Angels' Logan O'Hoppe Shows Real Commitment To Fixing Swing

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 11, 2024

Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington has been around long enough to know a thing or two about creating a lineup. There's a reason why he didn't want the young guys at the top of the lineup earlier this season.

Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, and Logan O’Hoppe have moved into the top three spots in the lineup but O'Hoppe has been struggling mightily. As of Saturday morning, he was in a 2-for-32 slump that roughly corresponded with him moving into the No. 3 spot.

“I’m just seeing him try to do too much,” Washington said Saturday. “The one thing I told him when I put him in the third hole is don’t change what you’ve been doing. It looks like he’s trying to do damage. And a kid like him doesn’t have to try to do damage. Just got to get his bat head on the ball. And I’ve been telling him that. Just put your bat head on the ball. Damage will happen.

“But sometimes you can’t stop them from getting inside of themselves and you have to go through it. And right now he’s going through it. And I’m not gonna remove him from the third hole, so he’s gonna have to learn or he won’t get to hit in the third hole in the future.”

After Friday's game, O'Hoppe was spotted in the cages for at least 30 minutes after the game. The top three batters were a combined 0-for-15.

The young backstop insists that his slump has nothing to do with his spot in the order.

“You get hits and everyone says you’re fine,” O’Hoppe said. “If you don’t and it’s tied with moving up in the order, everyone’s gonna say that you’re trying to do too much. That’s not it at all. It’s just a tough stretch. It would be the same if I was hitting fifth or ninth.”

He also confirmed that his body feels great and he isn't fatigued.

“My body feels fine,” he said. “Over the course of 162 games, things are going to go up and down.”

Fortunately for O'Hoppe, his manager didn't have an eye on him when he returned the cages. If he did then he would have told him to go home. Instead, he got Sunday off.

“I would never have done it,” Washington said. “There’s a few veteran guys around here that wouldn’t have done it. But that’s how much he cares. He has to learn how to temper how much he cares. If he felt that’s what he needed, I’ve got no problem with it.

“But I tell you what, in the future he’s going to learn he doesn’t need to do that. If he came to me and asked me – and I had the right to say yes or no – could I go hit in the cage, I’d have told him to take a shower and go home.”