Troy Montgomery Raises His Game

Mike Gallego wasn’t sure what to make of Troy Montgomery when the Angels’ baseball development director first saw the outfielder in 2016.

“He had a little cockiness to him, a little swag to his game,” said Gallego, a former infielder who played 13 big league seasons. “I thought he was covering up some things so he wouldn’t look overmatched.”

As Montgomery, a 2016 eighth-round pick out of Ohio State, rose from Burlington to high Class A Inland Empire to Double-A Mobile in 2017, Gallego noticed a significant change in the 23-year-old’s demeanor.

“This year, his swag is all about confidence,” Gallego said. “He’s playing with confidence, and he’s more of an instinctual player. He’ll make some aggressive mistakes, but you can put up with them as long as he learns from them. He’s a fierce competitor. This kid has made huge strides.”

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Montgomery, who bats lefthanded, slashed .271/.358/.413 with eight home runs and 15 stolen bases in 100 games this season. He struck out 74 times against 48 walks.

An early-August shoulder injury sidelined Montgomery for the rest of the season, so the Angels sent him to the Arizona Fall League to get extra work.

A three-year starter in college who signed for $150,000, Montgomery is an undersized gamer type who plays with energy. He’s a gap-to-gap hitter with a tick below-average raw power and above-average speed, though he does have a tendency to get reckless on the bases.

Montgomery provides above-average defense at three outfield spots with a solid-average arm in terms of strength and accuracy. He projects as a corner outfielder, and probably a fourth outfielder, in the big leagues.

“He’s really strong for his size, with some pop,” Gallego said. “Sometimes he over-swings and gets in trouble, but once he understands the type of player he really is at the plate, and if he stays gap to gap, the home runs will come.”

ANGEL FOOD

The Angels acquired 27-year-old righthander Felix Pena, who had a 5.24 ERA in 25 games across five stints with the Cubs last season, in exchange for a player to be named or cash.