Rhett Bollinger
ANAHEIM — Angels Minor League outfielder Rio Foster was a passenger in a serious car crash early Friday and is in critical condition, the club announced on Friday.
The Angels released a statement about Foster, who was just named the Northwest League Player of the Month with High-A Tri-City on Thursday.
"Earlier today, the Angels Organization learned that Rio Foster, a member of our Tri-City affiliate, was a passenger in a serious car accident in Richland, WA,” the statement read. “Rio is currently receiving medical care at a local hospital and remains in critical condition. We ask that the entire Angels Community joins our Organization in keeping Rio and his family in their hearts during this difficult time."
Tri-City canceled its home game Friday night vs. Hillsboro.
The team also makes the following statement:
"The thoughts and prayers of the entire Dust Devils organization are with Rio Foster who was a passenger in a car accident early this morning and sustained serious injuries. Tonight's game against the Hillsboro Hops has been canceled."
Foster, 22, was a 16th-round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft from Florence-Darlington Technical College in Florence, S.C.
Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery didn’t have any more details on Foster but said he had great interactions with him in Spring Training this year.
“Unfortunately, I’m working on limited [information], but what I do know is, obviously it's way more important than anything we're doing here today,” Montgomery said. “Just thinking about him and his family. He's a great kid, we had him in Spring Training. We talked to him. He was a little bit of a later-round Draft pick, and he's done some good things when we saw him in Spring Training. And he was named Player of the Month recently. So I mean, his career was obviously in a good spot, but that's all on hold. Praying for the best is all we can do.”