Angels News: Logan O’Hoppe is Ready to Take Over as the Halos Starting Catcher
Angels manager, Phil Nelvin shared with The Athletic that the goal of this year's spring training was to solidify the starting catcher come Opening Day.
Logan O'Hoppe has emerged as one of the frontrunners after getting in a few reps catching for the Angels' two-way star, Shohei Ohtani in spring training. He'll also catch for Ohtani's first game of the Cactus League on Tuesday.
Last year, O'Hoppe made his major league debut with the Angels after spending the past four years in the minor leagues. Across his five appearances with the team, he collected one run on four hits, and looked very comfortable behind the plate.
But this year, the 23-year-old catcher from New York feels ready for a more routine role as starting catcher.
"I think there’s always work to do, but I’d say so,” O’Hoppe said when asked if he felt he was ready to be with the Angels. “I think I can compete up there.”
The team's catching coach, Bill Haselman, thinks O'Hoppe can help the team this season, too.
"Yeah, absolutely," Haselman said regarding O'Hoppe contributing this year. "I think his overall demeanor is calm. He’s got a presence to him, where I think pitchers can see that."
Although he's had plenty of reps catching for the No. 1 player in the MLB right now, the Angels prospect is still competing with Max Stassi for that starting spot.
Stassi has played his past three seasons with the Angels and has gotten plenty more opportunities catching for Ohtani including over 20 games last season.
But the downside is that the 31-year-old catcher battled through an offensive slump all season long. He finished with a .180 AVG including 112 strikeouts in 106 games.
But Nevin made it clear that he's not giving O'Hoppe any more of an edge over the other catchers, and just getting him used to Ohtani's pitching style.
"It’s just to get comfortable with each other," Nevin said. "I’m not sure we’re gonna read anything into that."
The plus side is at least Nevin and the Angels' staff see a probability of O'Hoppe catching for Ohtani and the rest of the pitching staff this season. We'll see how the rest of Spring Training plays out and who will come out victorious.
