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Frankie Montas is a theory. He has all the underlying skills a modern front office hungers, namely the components of stuff such as velocity and shapes.

But a theory does not break out daily. A game does. And when it comes to pitching games — not on a computer printout — Montas’ results infrequently jibe with the theory. And that is when he actually is healthy enough to pitch.

Montas was on the injured list for the first three months of this season. He has made seven starts since. Neither fact has worked well for the Mets, who did not upgrade their rotation at the deadline because — among other elements — they keep doubling down on this theory.

A game broke out Sunday, and once more Montas was better in the imagination than on the mound. He threw a full array of pitches, pretty much all hard, and even Carlos Mendoza noted afterward “the stuff, 96-97 [mph], he’s got a sinker, he’s got a good slider, he’s got a good split.”