Angels not skipping a beat under Montgomery: 'He fits in'

ANAHEIM -- Ray Montgomery has done just about everything in baseball.

He played 12 seasons in the Minors and parts of three years in the Majors with the Astros from 1996-98 before embarking on a post-playing career where he has seen time in front-office roles and on-field positions. He began as an area scout for the Brewers, moving his way up to assistant scouting director before becoming scouting director for the D-backs from 2011-14 until he moved back to Milwaukee to run their Drafts.

He initially joined the Angels after the 2020 season as a director of player personnel before shifting to a new role as bench coach after that year. All that prepared Montgomery to be the club’s interim manager, with Ron Washington on medical leave for the rest of the season.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian has a strong relationship with Montgomery and believes he’s the perfect person to guide the team in Washington’s absence. The Angels have gone 5-4 in their nine games with Montgomery serving as manager, including Sunday’s 7-4 loss in 11 innings to the Nationals.

“We have the utmost confidence in Ray,” Minasian said. “Obviously, it'll be a little different. But with that being said, there's been a foundation built here, a road map per se, that I don't necessarily believe we will stray from. We believe in work and when it comes to addressing things, that won't change. Ray is an outstanding individual. He's done everything in this game.”

Montgomery said he’s not viewing it as an opportunity to show off what he can do as manager, as he said his thoughts are with Washington as he recovers and it’s his job to continue to establish and embrace the culture that Washington created. Montgomery said he’ll be in charge of the lineups and in-game decision-making but will relay the lineups and other key information to Washington to keep him in the loop.

“Honestly, it's like a transactional piece,” Montgomery said. “I'm looking at it as, 'We have a game to play today.' A week ago, when this started, we had the same mindset, and nothing's really changed. And again, relative to what I was doing prior, it's a lot of the same stuff.”

Angels players were obviously disheartened to hear the news about Washington before Friday’s game, but they have faith in Montgomery. Montgomery was a holdover as bench coach when Washington took over as manager last season and is the longest-tenured coach on the staff.

“He’s been here for a while now,” said Angels superstar Mike Trout. “He's got great relationships with the guys. We're not missing anything or skipping a beat or anything. He knows the game, and nothing's really going to change. Just go out there and play hard.”

Montgomery’s time with the Angels predates younger players such as Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel, so they’ve only known the Majors with Montgomery on the staff. They believe that continuity is important, especially because they already have a strong relationship with him.

“Ray's been around for as long as anybody, so it's nothing new to anybody,” O’Hoppe said. “I know a lot of guys bounce baseball things and life things off him, too. So it's a big adjustment not having Wash here, but having Ray come in and take the role -- it's really nothing new. He's been around for so long and been such help to everyone. So just keep that going.”

Neto was particularly close with Washington but joked that he’ll now need to bother Montgomery in the dugout during games and keep things loose with him. Neto said he already has a strong line of communication with Montgomery, which is important as Neto deals with right shoulder soreness stemming from his slide into second base on a stolen-base attempt on Tuesday. Neto is hopeful to return to the lineup on Tuesday in Atlanta.

“It's awesome,” Neto said. “He fits in, like Wash, with a lot of energy. He’s a guy who wants to win and put the best team out there and manage the game to the best of his abilities. He’s doing a really good job. And we’re all here for him. It's his first time, so we're trying to make it fun for him.