Logan O’Hoppe was the Philadelphia Phillies‘ number-five prospect to begin the 2022 season. Scouts had him pegged as a likely solid player in the major leagues. However, the Phillies already had one of the best catchers in baseball, J.T. Realmuto. This led to him going to the Los Angeles Angels in the Brandon Marsh trade. Surprisingly, the trade has worked out incredibly well for the Angels. The young catcher has become a leader of the team and puts them in a better spot for the future. O’Hoppe is proving he belongs on this team as a staple for years to come.
Logan O’Hoppe Proves He Belongs
O’Hoppe’s Shortened First Half
O’Hoppe was a bit of a surprise coming into the beginning of the season. Many thought that the catching tandem would consist of Max Stassi and Matt Thaiss. Unfortunately, Stassi has been out all season due to personal matters. As a result, the door opened up for O’Hoppe. He quickly gained the pitching staff’s trust in spring training. This allowed him to become the starting catcher to open the season.
O’Hoppe came out of the gate swinging. Before his shoulder injury, he made an early case for Rookie of the Year. In the 16 early games he played, he had a .283/.339/.886 slash line to go along with a wRC+ of 136. Simultaneously, he was still learning a pitching staff and what comes with that at the major league level. So, as long as nothing catastrophic happened, the Angels would have their catcher for years. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for O’Hoppe and the Angels.
On April 20th, O’Hoppe went down with a shoulder injury. The diagnosis was a torn labrum. The timeline for his return was around 4-6 months. It appeared this would put an end to the season for him. Without a doubt, it was terrible news for the team at the time, who still had high hopes for 2023. Although there was an outside shot he could return before the season ended, that seemed unlikely.
Logan O’Hoppe Proves He Belongs
In reality, there was no good reason to bring O’Hoppe back, provided that the Angels had nothing to play for. They are now 14 games out of the division and 12 1/2 games out of the wild card. Seeing that, you’d think the Angels would let him rest and be ready for next season. Well, that wasn’t the case, O’Hoppe has returned and is proving he belongs, even though his line since returning is a bit underwhelming: .211/.263/.507 with a wRC+ of 102 on top of it. On the other hand, he has hit six home runs in his 19 games since returning from the IL.
Logan O’Hoppe has a two-homer night! pic.twitter.com/4XWucpX6oM
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 12, 2023
O’Hoppe belongs up in Anaheim. Despite his injury, there are things to be built upon. By comparison, his second half is better than his first half. His strikeout rate in the first 16 games was 25%. In the second half, that rate is down to 17%. In addition to hitting more home runs, he’s striking out less. What’s more interesting is that most of the time, more home runs mean more strikeouts. O’Hoppe dropped his strikeout percentage by 8 points. That is unbelievable.
O’Hoppe Is The Future
A few positive storylines appeared in an Angels season filled with disappointment, injuries, and many frustrations. Despite that, O’Hoppe has become a bright spot and piece to build upon. O’Hoppe has proven he belongs on this team as a leader. 2023 has been awful for the Angels as a whole. Going into the offseason, they will have more questions than answers. O’Hoppe, though, has the making of a perennial All-Star. The Angels will have a lot of rough patches in the near future, but O’Hoppe won’t be one of them.
Photo Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
