Frankie Montas Injury: Rehab stint ends with whimper

Montas (lat) struck out two and surrendered five earned runs on seven hits and one walk over five innings Wednesday in a rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse.

While he threw 80 pitches (47 strikes) in the longest outing of his six-start rehab stint, Montas didn't exactly look ready to make a contribution for the Mets in the majors. His rehab assignment ends next week, and unless a new injury restarts the clock, the 32-year-old righty will need to be activated from the 60-day injured list by Monday. New York is expected to call up Justin Hagenman from Triple-A to make a spot start or bulk relief appearance Friday against the Phillies, but the team hasn't yet decided whether Montas will move into the No. 5 spot in the rotation next week or get some time in the bullpen to try and find his form. Over his 18.2 innings in the minors between High-A Brooklyn and Triple-A, Montas posted a 12.05 ERA and 12:10 K:BB while serving up eight home runs.