Montas started Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Royals and fired 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing four hits while recording a strikeout.
The right-hander, who, along with rotation mate Sean Manaea has been the subject of trade rumors in recent days, faced 11 batters. Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports Montas hit 96 mph on the radar gun in four of his first five pitches and logged 41 offerings overall. Montas also utilized both his splitter and slider effectively, and if he remains with the team, he's considered the leading candidate to serve as the Opening Day starter versus the Phillies on April 8.