Portsmouth's Mike Montville joins Baltimore Orioles as Triple-A coach: 'Exciting time'

Mike Montville was not out of the professional baseball coaching ranks for long.

On Wednesday, less than four months after being told his three-year tenure as the assistant hitting coach with the Worcester Red Sox had come to an end, Montville was named the hitting coach of the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

“It’s an exciting time to wear orange,” said Montville, a 2010 graduate of Portsmouth High School, where he was part of the baseball program’s national record 89-game win streak and was twice named New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year. “The Orioles have done a great job (with their minor league system), and for them to put some trust in me to put me in the position they did is exciting. I am really looking forward to it.”

The Orioles won the American League East last year with a record of 101-61, and were swept by the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series.

Montville was in talks with other teams

Before agreeing with Baltimore, Montville also had talks about potential coaching positions in the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays organizations.

“I talked to the Braves a ton, they were interested,” Montville said. “I think the Orioles just ended up being the right fit.”

Fresh start for Montville

Montville, who helped lead Portsmouth High School to Division II state championships in 2008, 2009 and 2010, is excited for a fresh start with a new organization.

“There are some things you can’t control, and there’s turnover at times,” Montville said. “I feel it was a hard situation for me at first (with leaving the Red Sox). But it turned into a really good positive thing for me. I think this is going to be really, really good for me.”

While in Worcester, Montville coached under and learned from hitting coach Rich Gedman, a former major league catcher who spent most of his playing career with Boston. Now, Montville will be the lone hitting coach with the Tides.

“I am so thankful for Geddy (Gedman),” Montville said. “He was amazing to me. After my first year, he really gave me the freedom to coach and take over some things. He allowed me to do things without ego. He protected me in a lot of ways and helped me navigate being a coach in professional baseball. I really don’t know if there was a better person I could’ve started with.”

More: Portsmouth's Montville 'super grateful for opportunity' after Red Sox let him go

Orioles have become a minor league hotbed

Baseball America has ranked the Orioles as having the best minor league farm system going into the 2024 season.

Montville, as the lead hitting coach at the highest level of the Orioles minor league system, says he’s feeling a “good pressure” with his new responsibilities.

“I feel it, but I think that’s good, it means you care,” Montville said. “It means you have something to work for. At the end of day, we’re trying to win, and there’s a role for me to help the Baltimore Orioles organization win a World Series.

“There is pressure, but you use it as a positive,” Montville continued. “It really doesn’t help you to worry about what could happen. You have to be really good at focusing on where you’re at and what’s right in front of you.”

The Orioles, according to Baseball America, have six prospects in MLB’s Top 100 , and four in the Top 30.

“I think I am going to learn a lot, it’s a good situation to be in,” Montville said. “The Orioles have seemed to put a lot of trust in what they thought I could to help their guys. It’s super exciting.”

The crown jewel in the Orioles’ organization is Jackson Holliday, 20, who is the top-ranked prospect in all of baseball for the second straight year.

“That kid can hit, he’s cool to watch,” Montville said. “He has tons of talent. Everyone talks super highly of him as a person.”

Potential Seacoast reunion in Norfolk

There’s a possibility that the Tides will have two Seacoast natives this season — Montville and St. Thomas Aquinas High School graduate Ryan McKenna. 

2023 story: St. Thomas grad Ryan McKenna, Baltimore Orioles have big hopes for MLB playoffs

McKenna, an outfielder, has spent the majority of the past three years with the Orioles, but he was sent down to Norfolk in September last year, and was not on Baltimore’s postseason roster.

“Hopefully, he’s in the big leagues,” Montville said. “He’s done such a great job for himself. It’s hard to get to the big leagues, and he’s had a good amount of time there. It’s really cool to see, and I am super happy for him. Hopefully, he makes the big team out of camp, but, if not, we’ll take care of him in Norfolk.”

Learning from a Yadier Molina, a future Hall of Famer

Montville, with a vote of confidence coming from Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Worcester bench coach Jose Flores, spent the winter months as the hitting coach of Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

The team was managed by Yadier Molina, a future likely first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, and won the league championship.

“(Molina) was awesome,” Montville said. “I really liked watching him interact with the players, and see how he managed the guys. I have so much respect for him. He was really good to me.”

Criollos de Caguas defeated Carolinas Gigantes, 5-3, in the best-of-nine championship series.

“That was the most amazing (baseball) experience I’ve ever had,” Montville said. “I’ve been to some cool places, but I am telling you now, that was different.”

Montville said the three-month experience in Puerto Rico was “great” for his development in the professional coaching ranks.

“It was the first time I've ever run my own team,” Montville said in terms of hitting. “(Molina) was great. He said ‘whatever you need, whatever you think is best, I trust you to do your job.’ To have that blessing from Yadier Molina, a future Hall of Famer, and one of the best catchers of all-time, was special.”

Montville is in Miami through Friday, Feb. 9 with Criollos de Caguas for the 2024 Caribbean World Series. He then will drive north to Sarasota for the start of spring training with the Orioles.

When asked what will he take from his three years in the Red Sox organization and his three months working with Molina, Montville said he took one big thing.

“You need to be right where your feet are,” he said. “Wherever you are, just focus on what you’re doing in that moment in time. You want to learn from the past and try to work for a better future for yourself, but the only way to be as good as you can at what you’re doing is to be in the present and be where your feet are. That has made a huge difference for me.”

Montville looks forward to New England homecoming

Montville and the Tides will make their one-and-only trip to Worcester from May 21-26 for a six-game series at Polar Park.

How is he going to feel to go back to a stadium where he spent three years?

“I really don’t know,” he said. “I loved going to that stadium every day, but the thing that made it the most special was the people that I did it with. You build relationships with guys. To go back and see them, that will make (that trip) the most special to me.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Mike Montville joins Baltimore Orioles as Triple-A hitting coach