Angels' Mike Trout Breaks Silence on Ron Washington Announcement: 'Bigger Than Baseball'

Los Angeles Angels All-Star outfielder and designated hitter Mike Trout commented on manager Ron Washington, who is set to miss the rest of the season for the Angels due to health concerns.

“Doesn’t take any days off, just comes in ready to work,” Trout said of Washington to the Orange County Register's Doug Padilla. “He loves his infield work, as you know. But it’s tough to hear news like this. This is bigger than baseball. He’s got to go out there and get things right. And everybody in this clubhouse is praying for him and thinking about him.”

The Angels announced Washington would be out indefinitely June 20 before confirming he would miss the whole season on Friday. This is Washington's second year with the Halos, and the final year of his contract. He has a club option for the 2026 season.

The Angels went 63-99 in the skipper's first year at the helm, but have put together a much better season in 2025 and sit just one game under .500 after Friday's 15-9 loss to the Washington Nationals.

In Washington's absence, the Angels named bench coach Ray Montgomery as the interim manager, and infield coach Ryan Goins will fill in as the bench coach.

While the Angels would have loved to have Washington back before the end of the season, the players seem to understand the gravity of the situation and are more worried about Washington's wellbeing.

“It's more than baseball when you hear the news,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “We just hope he's healthy and getting better. I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, but we don't care about any of the baseball side of it right now. We hope he's all right and gets the help he needs. But he's the main reason why everything has been the way it has been around here this year so far. It's something we’re going to keep replicating.”

After the Angels' loss on Friday, they are two games out of an AL Wild Card spot and are the second team out behind the Cleveland Guardians, who are 1.5 games back. They have a chance to regain the ground they lost in the second game of a three-game series against the Nats on Saturday at 6:38 p.m. PT.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.