Angels News: Logan O’Hoppe ‘Disgusted’ With Recent Performance
Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe has seen better days.
Since returning three weeks ago from shoulder surgery, the 23-year-old has batted just .146 with a .508 OPS across 60 plate appearances. Before tearing his labrum, O'Hoppe was hitting .259 with a .813 before having the surgery.
Despite a solid performance at the plate in the minors, Angels manager Phil Nevin figured O'Hoppe would struggle in his return to the big leagues.
“We really wanted to get his legs underneath him catching-wise, but he was swinging the bat so well down there and moving around so good that we just felt it was the right time,” Nevin said. “The offense was gonna come second. We knew that, but I think the at-bats are good. He’s swinging at a lot of the right pitches. He’s gonna chase some. That’s what big guys do and guys who hit the ball out of the park. I think he’s moved it around the field. I really liked his approach.”
The rookie showed less patience when describing his thoughts on his recent performance.
“Physically, I feel pretty good,” O'Hoppe said. “Pretty disgusted with how it’s been results-wise.”
O'Hoppe said that the process of recovering from shoulder surgery is more difficult than he expected, as it almost feels like playing baseball for the first time again.
“I’m trying to just feel back what I felt before,” O’Hoppe said. “The first rehab start I had I really felt out of water. I felt like I hadn’t played baseball before, ever. So working back through it has taken longer than I anticipated. Working with (hitting coach Marcus Thames) a lot. It’s been getting better every day, so hopefully we’ll start piecing something together at the end.”
While O'Hoppe certainly has struggled, with an entire offseason coming up to get back into major-league shape, the rookie should return to form next season.
