ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels had just been swept. And not only swept. They’d been crushed — outscored 32-13 over three home games against the struggling Minnesota Twins in late April. They’d lost nine of 10.
Logan O’Hoppe was in the dugout after the game, talking with bench coach Ray Montgomery, a person he trusted. They were going over the game; more the specifics of his performance in the 11-5 loss than the team’s generally unfortunate situation.
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O’Hoppe was shouldering the weight of the defeat. Whether he deserved blame for pitchers’ poor performance or the team’s plight is a different question altogether. The reality was that he was mad at himself.
“I do (take it personally). When there’s a crooked number and the hits on the scoreboard, it’s not fun,” O’Hoppe said that day. “And you do feel guilty about it. You do a lot of work to make sure that doesn’t happen, it’s part of my job. That’s why I’m here. I’m not happy with how I’ve been doing at it.
“I don’t think I’m being too hard on myself. I think it’s just the truth.”
This is the good and the bad of O’Hoppe, all wrapped up in one answer. He cares an incredible amount. His frustration was not lip service to the media. O’Hoppe takes the ups and downs home with him. He talks about them with trusted advisers, friends and a sports psychologist. The downside is the mental wormhole that becomes possible if team and individual struggles persist.
But this attitude has also made him a natural leader — even with only 127 big-league games under his belt. Teammates respect him immensely. And that, combined with his talent at a premium position, has put him in a spot to be the face of the franchise for years to come.
“He is our captain,” longtime Angels outfielder Taylor Ward said. “I think he is the leader of this team. I believe wholeheartedly in him. He’s a leader. A born leader.”
The comment is notable. The Angels still employ Mike Trout, who is in his 14th season, many of which he spent as the greatest player in the sport.
Though Trout is known as an excellent teammate, he hasn’t been thought of as a vocal leader. And he’s missed significant time with injuries, including almost all of the past calendar year.
The Angels have brought in veterans with leadership capabilities. Mike Moustakas was lauded for that role last year, and Kurt Suzuki the year before that. Kevin Pillar was brought on this year for a similar purpose.
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But the team has lacked a stable presence like O’Hoppe, a player who can take that mantle and run with it for years.
“He’s never taken this for granted,” Trout said. “He comes in every single day and knows he needs to work, work, work. Sometimes you’ve got to tone him down a little bit because he’s going crazy in there.”
And therein lies the question for O’Hoppe. The qualities that make him a great leader are something of a Venn diagram with those that make things difficult mentally.
At the beginning of spring training, Angels manager Ron Washington joked he’d have to stick O’Hoppe with a pen to let some of the air out. It was a playful reference to his being tightly wound.
Still, it seems to be working. O’Hoppe is having a borderline All-Star season thus far — posting a .787 OPS with 12 homers and 37 RBIs. Friday, he hit a game-winning three-run homer in the eighth inning. Then Saturday, he hit a score-tying solo shot in the eighth before throwing a runner out from his knees in the ninth.
Logan O'Hoppe and Luis Guillorme combine for a ridiculous caught stealing 👀 pic.twitter.com/wOfV88CLG3
— MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2024
At just 24 years old, he’s being asked to do a lot on and off the field. It’s a responsibility he’s not only accepted but also seeks out and puts on himself.
“I just think it’s how I’m wired,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s not something I feel like I grew into. It’s a feeling I have naturally. It’s my best friend and worst enemy sometimes. The hard nights are tough, and then the good nights are really good.”
O’Hoppe recognizes that, over a 162-game season, internalizing results to that extent might not be what’s best for him. He said he’s trying to better compartmentalize where he puts his focus and using his journal as an outlet.
“If I’m home and I’m talking to the family, then I’m doing that,” he said. “And if I’m here, then I’m focused on this. The overall umbrella goes back to being present and maximizing the moment. It’s hard to do when you’re alone a lot of the time. …I feel like a lot of times, when I break (the game) down, a lot of it’s my imagination — what could have happened, or what the possibilities could have been.”
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The entire mantra of the Angels’ season has been about establishing who fits in the team’s core. There are reasonable conversations to be had as to whether the Angels organization as a whole has done, or is doing enough, to build a sustainable winner. The answer to that is probably no, since there’s been no tangible difference from the strategy that’s failed year after year.
But there is no doubt about where O’Hoppe fits in those plans. He’s right at the center of everything. He’s the player the Angels can and should build around. Shortstop Zach Neto, first baseman Nolan Schanuel, starter José Soriano and reliever Ben Joyce make up the burgeoning core.
Taking on the weight of a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs in a decade and hasn’t won a postseason game in 15 years is a lot. And it will be on O’Hoppe and those around him to keep perspective that ending the Angels’ habitual losing ways doesn’t fall squarely on him — no matter how important he is to the eventual solution.
“I just want to win games, man, and in the postseason,” O’Hoppe said. “Whatever role that is, I’m down to do it. That’s the end goal. I don’t think about much outside of it. If you win at the end of the day, it’s a much easier sleep at night.”
(Photo: Jonathan Hui / USA Today)
Sam Blum is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Los Angeles Angels and Major League Baseball. Before joining The Athletic, he was a sports reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Previously, he covered Auburn for AL.com and the University of Virginia for The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.
