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Despite a decent start to the 2025 season, the wheels quickly fell off for the Los Angeles Angels. <\/p>\n
It was understandably a tough time when Ron Washington left due to a medical issue. The team was hovering around .500 and actually showed decent enough promise to the point that some were expecting a possible playoff run. <\/p>\n
However, under the stewardship of interim skipper Ray Montgomery, the team was unable to sustain the same level of potency shown earlier in the season. <\/p>\n
More news:\u00a0<\/strong>Former Angels Gold Glove Award Winner Announces Sudden Retirement<\/a><\/p>\n Sam Blum of The Athletic<\/em> caught up with Halos catcher Logan O’Hoppe recently to debrief on the tumultuous season<\/a> this past year. <\/p>\n O’Hoppe, one of the team’s best and most accomplished players, was publicly questioned in September by then-manager Ray Montgomery. O’Hoppe’s usual standard on the field was not where it had been \u2014 and this was particularly the case on defense. Trying to make sense of it, Montgomery spoke about the supposed relationship between his catcher and the pitching staff. <\/p>\n \u201cListen, you don\u2019t have to go to dinner with each other, and you don\u2019t have to be best friends. But when you step out of the dugout, when you cross the lines, there has to be a trust,” Montgomery said. “There doesn\u2019t have to be a love. \u2026 And [O’Hoppe] probably got to earn a little bit of that back.\u201d<\/p>\n Suffice to say, but the comments did not sit well with O’Hoppe in the slightest. <\/p>\n \u201cAs far as [Montgomery’s] comments about me having to earn things back, there has not been one instance this year with any of my pitchers where I butted heads, got into it, caused any reason for them not to trust me. Not one,” O’Hoppe said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of perspectives on my relationship with different pitchers has come from people that aren\u2019t me, and aren\u2019t my pitchers either. If you ask any of the pitchers about it, I am sure that they would say our relationship is great. I certainly don\u2019t feel like I have to earn anybody\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n This is another example of the volatility centered around this franchise. It’s not exactly a feud between the player and former coach, though it illustrates two ways of thinking that clearly are not aligned with one another. <\/p>\n More news: <\/strong>Angels Were One of 2 Teams to Say ‘No’ To Shohei Ohtani’s $700M Deferral Offer<\/a><\/p>\n