ANAHEIM -- Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe made history Sunday afternoon.
O¡¯Hoppe has been off to a blistering start offensively and became the first catcher in club history to homer in four straight games with a solo blast in the second inning of a 6-2 win over the Guardians at Angel Stadium. O¡¯Hoppe leads the club with five homers and is slashing .345/.367/.862 with nine RBIs through his first seven games. He was in the lineup for Sunday¡¯s day game after a night game, as he¡¯s been too hot offensively to sit on the bench. He¡¯s helped the Angels win three straight series to open the season for the first time since 2018 and their 6-3 start is tied for the best record in club history.
¡°It's pretty cool,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°Happy it came with a win. It's pretty fun to be a part of this group, and we're coming back and stringing at-bats together like this.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe, 25, is coming off a season that saw him put up strong numbers in the first half of the season, only to struggle a bit after the All-Star break. He hit .276/.328/.472 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in 83 games before the break and .196/.266/.312 with six homers and 14 RBIs in 53 games after it. But O¡¯Hoppe believes he¡¯s stronger now and ready to take on the rigors of another full season behind the plate.
His latest homer came on a 2-2 slider from Luis L. Ortiz and O¡¯Hoppe said the key to his impressive start has been keeping an even keel.
¡°Honestly, I think it's a process,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°I'm just working on it every day. I don't feel like things are going well or bad. I feel very neutral. It¡¯s about not getting too high or too low. I think we all saw last year the down a bit, obviously. Now we're seeing the good of it, but it's the same approach. You know? We're trying to keep an even wavelength, not trying to be too up and down with it.¡±
Fellow catcher Travis d¡¯Arnaud, who signed a two-year deal worth $10 million this offseason, has helped serve as a mentor to O¡¯Hoppe since Spring Training. He said O¡¯Hoppe already has strong leadership skills but now it¡¯s about continuing to gain more experience. The biggest thing the two work on is pitch calling, which is something d¡¯Arnaud, a 13-year veteran, excels at.
¡°He's been the same since the first day I met him,¡± d¡¯Arnaud said. ¡°Very consistent with how he is as a person every day. Great guy, really easy to work with, listens really well, asks all the right questions and is continuously learning.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe said he was excited to see the Angels add d¡¯Arnaud this offseason as well as coach Sal Fasano. The Angels made it a priority to help develop O¡¯Hoppe this year, as last season he didn¡¯t have a veteran catcher to lean on for advice, since Matt Thaiss was also inexperienced.
¡°I'm happy to work with him,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°I was really excited when I saw that we had signed him. Or when he had reached out, rather, because he reached out before it went public. So it¡¯s exciting to learn from him and Sal, too.¡±
Angels manager Ron Washington has liked what he¡¯s seen from O¡¯Hoppe so far early this season and noted that two of his five homers this year have been to right-center field. O¡¯Hoppe has power to all fields and Washington wants him to keep that going the rest of the year.
¡°He's been doing a great job,¡± Washington said. ¡°He really has been using a big part of the field, and that's important, because he's strong in both of the big parts of the field. And as long as he stays there, he's going to be fine.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe has also enjoyed the vibes in the clubhouse this year, as the Angels have a mix of younger players like O¡¯Hoppe and veterans such as d¡¯Arnaud. It has led to a solid start to the season for the club and O¡¯Hoppe is looking to keep that going.
¡°It's been awesome,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°My parents were here this weekend, and I was telling them, it feels like it feels like it's my senior [year in] high school again. And we won it all that year. It¡¯s that same kind of feel. It's just good to come to the park every day and it doesn't feel like a job at all. It¡¯s hanging out with the boys and getting your job done.¡±