The Pittsburgh Pirates signed 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Allen Montgomery as a non-drafted free agent on Sunday. He is 6’3″, 190 pounds and pitched at Southern Illinois for the last two seasons.
Montgomery pitched 27 games in relief this season, posting a 5.32 ERA in 43.1 innings, which is about a half of a run higher than the league average ERA. Batters hit .310 against him and he posted a 27:21 SO/BB ratio. While those stats aren’t impressive, they were a major improvement over his junior season (as a walk-on) when he had a 9.89 ERA in 23.2 innings.
I couldn’t find any scouting reports, but I’ll look into it and see what I can find. When the stats don’t impress for a pitcher like that, there is usually more behind it, meaning something like excellent velocity with poor command. He was a pitcher going back at least to high school, where he threw two no-hitters, so he has mound experience.