Logan O'Hoppe Says Angels' Pitching Struggles Have Taken a Toll on Him

Maren Angus-Coombs | May 28, 2024

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Any way you count it, the Angels' pitching staff has struggled in 2024. Earned-run average? Check (27th out of 30). First-pitch strikes? Check (27th.) Home runs per fly ball? Check (26th.) It's been hard to watch.

Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe has had a front-row seat to it all. The 24-year-old refuses to let his inexperience be an excuse for his struggles working with the pitching staff. As of Sunday, he has 98 big league games under his belt.

The low point was the Angels' April 28 game against Minnesota. The Twins put up 11 runs in the final game of a three-game series. O'Hoppe spent time talking to reporters after the game, taking complete responsibility.

“When there’s a crooked number under hits on the scoreboard, it’s not fun and you do feel guilty about it,” O’Hoppe said that day. “You do a lot of work to make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s part of my job. That’s why I’m here, to win games and get these guys through it, and I’m not happy with how I’ve been doing it.”

Since then, O'Hoppe and the Angels' pitching staff have been improving. However, the results are still not what he nor the team want them to be.

“I’m not gonna sit there and tell you that I feel like I’m doing more good than bad right now,” he said this weekend. “I feel like I’m definitely feeling the inexperience and opportunities to grow more than I am confirming the things that work. It’s just something I’m trying to be patient with. I’m not gonna lie. It’s taken a toll on me mentally.”

Nobody in the clubhouse lays the entire blame for the pitching staff's failures at O'Hoppe's feet. He might not have lived up to expectations, but his catching game is still a work in progress.

“I think it’s all a learning process,” O’Hoppe said. “I know this position carries a lot of weight and a lot of responsibility, and that’s the part I really do love. It’s heavier than I expected. I’m sure some of that is self-inflicted. It’s just it’s not fun looking up and seeing crooked numbers on the board. Then you have a start like (José) Soriano’s in Cleveland and it all balances out. I know I’m inexperienced. I know I have a lot to learn, but at the same time, I’m trying to stick to what I know works personally and work with them.”

Through this rough patch, O'Hoppe has a supportive manager in Ron Washington. The veteran skipper knows sometimes the only way to get to the other side of a rough patch is to go through it.

“It’s tough,” Washington said. “He needs to go through this experience.”