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The Mets are demoting struggling pitcher Frankie Montas to the bullpen.

Frankie Montas’ days as a starter appear over.

The New York Mets are shifting the beleaguered right-hander to the bullpen, manager Carlos Mendoza announced Tuesday.

Montas — who signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the Mets in December — has been knocked around since returning from a strained lat. In eight appearances (seven starts), Montas has pitched to an unsightly 6.38 ERA.

Why Was Frankie Montas Demoted?

The 32-year-old Montas has been one of baseball’s worst pitchers in his brief time as a Met. After missing more than two months with a lat injury suffered during spring training, Montas has allowed 45 hits, including eight home runs, over 36.2 innings. Furthermore, he has failed to record an out beyond the sixth inning in all but two of his appearances.

Montas was used as an opener in his last appearance, Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he allowed three runs (one earned) in three innings. The Mets lost 7-4 and were eventually swept by Milwaukee.

The Mets (63-55) returned home Tuesday having lost 11 of their last 12 games.

Mendoza said Montas will be available out of the bullpen starting Thursday.

Who Will Pitch Instead of Frankie Montas?

The Mets have yet to announce a starter for Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, but Mendoza left open the possibility of calling up a top prospect like Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat to take Montas’ place in the rotation. Both right-handers were recently promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.

“Whoever comes up here, if it’s one of the prospects, the plan is for giving him a good look here,” Mendoza told reporters.

Added the New York Post’s Mike Puma: “McLean and Sproat clearly in the conversation for Saturday. Was told recently that McLean is ahead of Sproat.”

McLean and Sproat are both ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects, checking in at No. 40 and No. 44, respectively.

Regardless of who gets the call, the Mets need more stability from their starting staff. Remarkably, All-Star left-hander David Peterson is the only Mets starter in the last 53 games to pitch six innings.

The recent swoon has dropped the Mets 6.0 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies atop the National League East. They are also only 2.0 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the final NL wild card spot.

“We haven’t played well for quite a bit now, and that’s what happens,” Mendoza said Sunday via MLB.com’s Ryan Herrera.

Douglas Bonjour is a breaking news contributor covering the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and WNBA for Heavy. He is also a contributing writer for The Associated Press and has worked for Point Spreads, the Connecticut Post and Hearst Connecticut Media as a reporter and editor. More about Douglas Bonjour