Angels News: MLB Experts Breakdown Logan O'Hoppe's Potential
The Angels made a huge decision before the season started, and that was going with Logan O'Hoppe as the starting catcher for Anaheim.
O'Hoppe got some run-ins toward the end of the 2022 season, but that was only five games with 14 ABs. Now there is no question that Logan is the Angels' catcher of the present and future. He's off to a great rookie campaign, and he's immediately becoming a fan favorite due to his awesome play.
Logan is also establishing himself as one of the best catchers early this season, and he's getting some notice on a national level.
The experts at MLB Network broke down his game and his star potential.
O'Hoppe is ranked just behind Dodgers catcher Will Smith with the second-highest Expected Weighted On-base Average (XWOBA) at .403 among catchers. XWOBA is used to calculate exit velocity, launch angle, and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. Hitters and pitchers are able to influence exit velocity and launch angle, but players have no control over it once the ball is batted and put into play.
The 23-year-old is killing it through ten games, as he's slashing .257/.308/.629 with a .937 OPS, four home runs, and 11 RBIs in 35 ABs. Among catchers, he's tied first with the most home runs, second in RBIs, and in the top ten among hits. Logan has shown flashes of being a great player and is looking like the answer for the Halos behind the plate.
O'Hoppe is off to a tremendous start, and I'm sure he'll keep it up.
