Managing rising expectations
Montoyo needs to build skills alongside players he has helped develop
Charlie Montoyo doesn’t feel like he has to stand up in front of his team and make inspirational speeches to motivate his Blue Jays players.
“They believe they can win and that’s great,” Montoyo said this week. “That’s a great feeling for a manager.”
While he may not be one for those big, movie-moment deliverances, communication has been the key to Montoyo’s success as Blue Jays boss since he was hired as a first-time manager in October 2018.
It’s a skill Montoyo perfected as a veteran manager in Triple-A, where there can be so much movement that constantly talking to players is a must. And there’s little difference in the big leagues. Players want to know where they stand at all times, why they’re hitting at that spot in the lineup or why they didn’t get into that partic- ular game.
“He treats everyone the same and I think our players really appreciate that,” general manager Ross Atkins said earlier this month, after announcing the club had picked up Montoyo’s option for 2022 long before it was necessary to make such a move.
“Obviously he’s aware of individual needs and interests but he’s just a very fair, consistent human being that sets a great tone for our environment.”
Establishing that tone in Toronto’s clubhouse was critical over the past two seasons as the Jays transitioned to their next generation of players, one that
is expected to deliver great success. Montoyo was an obvious choice for that role, touted for his experience in player development.
But as the Jays’ young core grows, it will be imperative the 55-year-old manager develops his skills at the big-league level alongside them. Communication will continue to be a key component to Toronto’s success, but the x’s and o’s throughout the game will also become more prevalent as the Jays’ competition gets stiffer and the margins slimmer.
Montoyo may leave some of those in-game decisions in the hands of his coaching staff, but the buck will ultimately stop with him. Knowing he has two years at the helm of the team will give Montoyo confidence going into the 2021 season, but how he manages Toronto’s burgeoning team will be among the most critical storylines of the season if the Jays want to replicate the post-season berth they earned in 2020.
Pitching and defence are the two areas Toronto made clear it wanted to improve in the off- season and how close the team comes to achieving those goals will, in part, reflect on Montoyo.
The early returns are positive.
The Jays finished spring training with the best record in baseball and a team ERA behind only the Miami Marlins.
But spring training results must be taken with a grain of salt. The regular season, as Montoyo knows, is a whole different ball game.
“I’ve been at this level for a while now so I know what it takes to win games and that’s why this spring training was all about pitching and defence,” Montoyo said. “Because we knew our offence was going to be OK, but to win in the big leagues you’ve got to catch it and you’ve got to pitch so that’s why everything in this spring was about those to things for sure.”
Montoyo has already shown Atkins that he can be very steady in-game with “incredible” instincts, the general manager said.
Still, there is always room to grow in a new job.
“No matter how much preparation and experience you have — which Charlie, I think, had as much preparation and experience managing as you could ask for — it’s still very different when you’re leading an organization the way that he is,” Atkins said. “He’s embraced it. He’s embraced it with humility, he’s embraced all the challenges with an open mind and incredible character.”
Those challenges will only grow as expectations surrounding the Jays do. How Montoyo meets them is the next step on the road to continued managerial, and team, success.