White Sox No. 2 prospect hurls no hitter

Chris Heston wasn’t the only one throwing hitless frames on Tuesday. Chicago White Sox young hurler Francelis Montas tossed the Birmingham Baron’s first no-hitter since 2009 on Tuesday evening.

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Montas is the White Sox No. 2 rated prospect in the system and since the promotion of Carlos Rodon, Montas has become the best pitching prospect on the White Sox’ pipeline. The 22-year old right hander was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the other Sox — the Boston Red Sox — but came over to the White Sox in 2013 as part of the Jake Peavy trade. He has been on the rise ever since.

Last year, Montas had his breakout performance, one which would propel him to No. 79 on MLB’s Top 100 prospects in baseball. He went 5-0 over three levels compiling a 1.44 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. Montas appeared in the Futures Game and was named to the Rising Stars team after a solid Arizona Fall League stint.

This season, Montas was searching for his first win after only earning one decision over his first 9 starts. Hurling a no-hitter is a good way to ensure that you pick up that first win. Was it impressive that Montas threw a no-hitter? Of course. What makes it monumental was that it came against the Tennessee Smokies.

The Smokies are the Double-A affiliate of the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs. It is also the Double-A affiliation of the top farm system in Minor League Baseball. Montas no-hit a lineup that featured Albert Almora (No. 3 in the Cubs system/ No. 49 overall), Kyle Schwarber (No. 2/No. 42), Dan Vogelbach (No. 13), Billy McKinney (No. 5/No. 100) and Jacob Hannemann (No. 19).

“Honestly, I was like, telling myself, ‘You can’t make a mistake with those guys,'” Montas told Danny Wild of MiLB.com. “Just try to wait for them, throw them outside, because those guys, you have to be careful. Those guys can hit.”

Well, in a day that saw his fastball top out at 98 miles per hour, those guys couldn’t hit. The Cubs Big 5 went a combined 0-for-12 with one strikeout, one walk and one double play. Simply put, Montas was in control, and against the lineup he accomplished the feat against was remarkable.

“I was using my fastball a lot, using it more than the other stuff,” Montas said to MiLB.com. “And I was in the zone. I was getting ahead early in the count with the fastball.”

What does this mean for the young righty? How much closer does this performance get him to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights?

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Right now, the boys on the Southside have a solid 1-2-3 punch as Rodon comes into his own to compliment Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija. Jose Quintana remains a question mark and John Danks has never really come to meet the expectations he set for himself after a breakout 2010 season.

That being said the Charlotte Knights are currently in first place in the International League South, so should the White Sox decide to make a change in the rotation, it will most likely be filled from there. That will get Montas a promotion to AAA. Nothing can be ruled out in this Year of the Rookie. Many felt Vincent Velasquez was at least a year away for the Astros, and he gets his first big league start tonight.

For now, Montas needs to focus on pitching and simply enjoy the moment.

“Honestly, I’m still laughing,” Montas told Wild. “People are asking me today, ‘Hey, how’s that feel?’ It feels like great, I threw a no-hitter! The first no-hitter of my career, so I feel pretty good.”