Logan O'Hoppe, Ron Washington Disagree Over Assessment of Angels Star's Hitting

Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe experienced his first full season as a big league catcher in 2024, but as the Halos try to turn a corner this year, players must fine tune their performance.

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In the case of O'Hoppe, Angels manager Ron Washington believes the catcher struggles to focus on pitching mistakes at the plate, and instead, desires to consistently hit home runs.

“He’s got to understand, through experience -- which he got a full year [of] last year -- that there's times when you’ve just got to take what's given to you,” Washington said, via MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. “If you play your amount of games that you’re supposed to play, whatever amount of home runs you're going to hit, they're going to be there. You don't need to try to do it.”

Nonetheless, O'Hoppe denied Washington's remarks, but did admit to improving his mindset at the plate after some reflection.

“I was not trying to hit home runs,” O’Hoppe said. “What I was trying to do was everything at the plate. If I needed to punch a ball the other way, I was trying to do that. And if I was needed to put a ball in the gap, I was trying to do that. I never took an at-bat last year where I got in the box that I'm trying to hit a home run. But I know the kind of hitter I am now.”

O'Hoppe caught the third-most games in MLB last season. After a full-season under his belt, the 25-year-old catcher experienced his first offensive slump from early August to mid-September where he batted .103 (12-for-117) across 34 games.

Despite the six week slump, O'Hoppe finished the 2024 season strong recording a .244/.303/.409 slash line with 20 homers, 17 doubles and 56 RBIs. However, Washington believes his young catcher took on too heavy a load last year.

One of the Angels' most notable signings this winter was the acquisition of veteran backstop Travis d'Arnaud, who will serve as a mentor to O'Hoppe. The arrival of d'Arnaud also gives O'Hoppe a few days off throughout the season, helping avoid any burn out for the youngster.

“I want him to be the greatest Angels catcher of all time,” d’Arnaud told reporters Wednesday, via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “I reached out to him moments before it was released to the press, because I want him to know that I’m here for him. I don’t want anything to get possibly stirred up from outside sources. I made sure I reached out to him to let him know I’m always here for him and anything he ever needs or wants."

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