ANAHEIM — The Angels got their first look at the player they expect to be their catcher of the future.
“It definitely exceeded my expectations,” O’Hoppe said after the game, with the lineup card and the ball from his first hit sitting on his chair as mementos. The biggest negative of the game was that Mickey Moniak came out after getting hit in the left knuckle by a foul ball in the sixth. X-rays were negative, so he’s day to day. Moniak was visibly upset as he walked off the field. This year Moniak has already suffered a broken right hand, at the end of spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies, and a fractured left middle finger, in his first few days with the Angels.
The 22-year-old immediately became the top prospect in the Angels’ system, and he didn’t disappoint in his first two months. He torched pitchers at Double-A to the tune of a .306 average and a 1.147 OPS, with 11 home runs, in 29 games after the trade. “I chased those two sliders, and then then I realized there was no clock anymore and I can take my time,” O’Hoppe said, referring to the pitch timer used this year in the minors. “So I stepped out and kind of caught my breath. That definitely helped. I think that helps in all aspects of the game, knowing that there wasn’t that clock and I could take my time if I needed to.”As for his work behind the plate, the A’s stole two bases against O’Hoppe.
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