Angels Face Big Decisions when Max Stassi & Jared Walsh Return

They have a good problem on their hands.

The Los Angeles Angels currently sit at 7-6 on the season and while they have not been perfect and have endured some tough losses, it's important to remember that their squad is not at full strength yet.

Logan O'Hoppe has been incredible considering it's only his first official season in the MLB and he has been pretty electric both behind the plate and whenever he steps up to hit. He already has nine hits and four home runs on the year in a role that was supposed to belong to Max Stassi.

Stassi was their clear-cut option as starting catcher but questions about his availability began to surface when he missed the last couple of games with a hip injury. On top of that, it was then revealed that he had a family issue to resolve on top of that and not much updates have come since.

Logan O'Hoppe went from hitting his first MLB home run in Oakland last week to now hitting his third here at Angel Stadium. His ball traveled 424 feet.

Angels 6-0 Blue Jays pic.twitter.com/MXWpJh5edS

— Sarah Valenzuela (@Sarah_IsabelVee) April 9, 2023

Experts at the Orange County Register put their two cents in as to what they believe will happen when he finally does return to the team.

"Given that we have no idea when he is coming back, it’s difficult to project what will happen at that time. It’s safe to say that as long as O’Hoppe is playing as well as he’s playing now, he’s going to stay in the lineup, though. The more significant question is what happens to Matt Thaiss when Stassi comes back. Thaiss is out of options, and the Angels probably can’t keep three catchers. But it’s also too early to worry about that one."

(Via Orange County Register)

On top of that, LA still has yet to welcome Jared Walsh into their lineup.

After being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2022, Walsh continues to miss time on the field this season due to insomnia and severe headaches. His recovery process is far different than those with other injuries.

"The Angels have said these are real quality-of-life issues for Walsh, so they fully support him getting them addressed, however long that takes. They say he’s making progress, but there’s no real timetable. The more time he misses, the more time it will take him to get up to game speed. So as soon as you read that Walsh has an end date for his treatment, you’ll get an estimate of how much time he’ll need to ramp up his baseball work. Until that happens, it’s impossible to say when he’ll be back."

(Via Orange County Register)

It will definitely be tough for the Halos to figure out how many responsibilities they can pass over to Walsh upon his return. Nonetheless. we wish these guys the best as they work to return back to the lineup.