Logan O’Hoppe took his spot in the batter’s box with the San Francisco Giants leading the Los Angeles Angels by two runs in the sixth inning on Saturday. Taylor Ward stood at first base with one out, giving O’Hoppe a chance to start a rally. He worked a 2-1 count before getting a center-cut sinker from Giants starter Keaton Winn. He turned on that pitch and blasted it 467 feet to dead center field at Oracle Park.
The homer tied the game at three, allowing the Angels to eventually go on and win 4-3 to secure a series victory and offer up a chance at a sweep on Sunday. It gave O’Hoppe some records as well, smashing his previous longest homer by 39 feet, becoming the fifth-longest homer by an Angel since his debut and tied him for the fourth-longest homer at Oracle Park since 2015, when tracking began.
It was just another stellar outing in what has been a remarkable eight-game stretch for the young catcher. He has an eight-game hit streak rolling, and he is slashing .517/.533/.897 with a 1.430 OPS with seven extra-base hits in that span.
O’Hoppe remained humble after the fact, focusing on what his homer did for the Angels in that moment as opposed to the milestone distance it traveled, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“It tied the game. That’s what made me happy about it,” he said. “Whether it goes a foot over the wall or a couple feet over the wall, it doesn’t matter. It matters how many points are on the board at the time of the game.”
Starter Patrick Sandoval and manager Ron Washington, though, had no problem boasting on O’Hoppe’s behalf. Both have been very impressed with what they’ve seen out of the 24-year-old catcher in recent weeks.
“It was sick,” Sandoval said. “Awesome for him to come through clutch like that; he’s been doing it the last few weeks and coming up big for us.”
“He’s been swinging the bat the way we know he’s capable of,” manager Ron Washington said of O’Hoppe. “He’s been involved in a lot of the things we’ve been doing lately on the offensive side, so that’s good, right now. … It’s not just one or two guys that’s trying to carry the load. He’s definitely strong enough to carry the load.”
The Angels have something potentially special with O’Hoppe, their premier trade deadline acquisition from 2022. The young catcher has shown promise for two years now, but is seemingly piecing it all together midway through the 2024 campaign.
Mickey Moniak turning it around for Angels
Mickey Moniak, who had a dismal start to the 2024 season, is on a hit streak of his own over the last seven games. His homer in Saturday’s win over the Giants continued a strong stretch of play for the outfielder who was seen as a possible cornerstone when the season began.
