Jordan Montgomgery

Yankees pitcher Jordan Montgomery during a spring training baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday, March 6, 2017, in Bradenton, Fla. (Chris O'Meara | AP)

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Yankees may tap a surprise sixth man in their rotation showdown.



Jordan Montgomery will likely start a game for the Yankees within the next week, manager Joe Girardi said after the 24-year-old lefty's big contribution to the Yankees' 3-0, no-hitter win over the Tigers at Joker Merchant Stadium on Friday.



"We're really curious about him," Girardi said before the game.



The intrigue only grew after Montgomery threw four perfect frames to end it Friday, striking out a pair. It was his fourth spring outing. He's got a 3.48 ERA.



"That was definitely my best outing so far," said Montgomery, whom the Yankees picked in the fourth round in 2014. "I felt a little bit more under control, especially those last two innings. Starting to settle in."

Biggest Yankees' spring duds



The Yankees so far haven't seen a standout rotation candidate out of the five righties vying for the two open jobs behind ace Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda.

Luis Severino seems the front runner for at least one of the jobs. The competition between Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell and Adam Warren appears wide open.



Montgomery could step into the opening.



Girardi said that he thinks Montgomery has a better chance at landing his first big-league role as a bullpen piece on Opening Day, but wouldn't rule out the 6-foot-6 hurler in the rotation race.



"He's got really good downward angle. He uses his fastball well on both sides of the plate," the manager said.



Montgomery said he saw the possibility he'll get a start as a big chance.



"It makes me feel that I'm here for a reason and that they want me here," he said. "I'm just going to keep trying to get better and keep working hard and keep handling myself the right way."



Montgomery added that he would be fine with a relief role, too.



He began to turn heads last season, when he went 14-5 with a 2.13 ERA between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

MLB.com ranks Montgomery the Yankees' No. 13 overall prospect. Here's a portion of MLB.com's scouting report on him:



"Montgomery succeeded with an 88-92 mph fastball because he commands it to both sides of the plate and uses his 6-foot-6 frame to throw it on an extreme downhill plane. He has been even better now that he's working at 92-94, and he maintained his newfound velocity throughout last season. His fading changeup is his best secondary pitch, and he also can freeze hitters with the depth on his curve and mix in an upper-80s cutter."

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.