ANAHEIM — A little over a month ago, Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe had two hits, including a homer, after he had two straight days off. After that game, he made a surprising admission.
“I’m starting to grow up a little bit and understand that these days off help,” O’Hoppe said after the game on July 31. “I think that two days off in a row definitely did help. I felt pretty good tonight.”
O’Hoppe had back-to-back days off again this week, and he hit a homer when he returned on Tuesday, but this time he had a different explanation.
“I’m going back to my old ways and saying (the days off) didn’t play a big part of it,” O’Hoppe said. “I think we hopped in the cage after the game (Sunday). We worked on some things. It felt really different. So that was a good sign. I wasn’t beating my head against the wall like I was in the past month. Just looking to build on it going forward.”
That was the expected response from O’Hoppe, who has said at every other opportunity that fatigue has not played a role in his slump.
O’Hoppe has caught 948⅓ innings and 112 games, which are both among the top three in the major leagues. He’s also seen his offensive numbers plummet with a 7-for-79 slump over the past month. He’s now hitting .242 with 18 homers and a .709 OPS. His OPS peaked at .826 just before the All-Star break.
O’Hoppe, 24, said he feels fine physically. Or, at least as good as he’d expect.
“You feel things here and there, but we’re supposed to be tired right now,” he said. “It’s September. And no, I didn’t just admit to you that I am tired. Don’t take it there. But I do believe we’re supposed to be tired right now. We’ve been going since January.”
O’Hoppe said when he trained in the winter, he did his baseball work after his other work, so he could get used to being able to perform while withstanding the physical demands of his position.
“That’s what I trained for,” he said. “And I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Whether he’ll do anything different this winter to prepare to do all of this again is “a good question,” said O’Hoppe, who added that he won’t start planning out his winter workouts until this season is over.
His experience has told him, however, that he’ll be better the second time around. (Although this is O’Hoppe’s second season, he missed three months with an injury last year.)
“What I’ve seen in my career so far is the first time going through anything is the hardest,” O’Hoppe said. “So trying to be grateful for the struggle right now, and learn from it. Trying not to have it last long. But I definitely think there’s some good at the end of it.”
O’Hoppe said hitting coach Johnny Washington and assistant coach Jayson Nix helped him identify some mechanical issues that he’s trying to correct.
“They pointed out a lot of things that I didn’t realize had changed over time,” O’Hoppe said. “There was a lot going on. I don’t want to get into the specifics of it, but I’m grateful to them and I’ll keep leaning on them.”
Wayne Graham, the coach who built the Rice baseball program into a national powerhouse over his 27 seasons and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, died on Tuesday night. He was 88.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Rendon, who played for Graham at Rice from 2009-11. “Being in the game that long, it’s legendary. Everyone I spoke with, they all said the same thing. He’s a true legend.”
A day after Ben Joyce threw a 105.5 mph fastball, the third hardest pitch since the current pitch tracking era began in 2009, Manager Ron Washington said he didn’t want Joyce to get carried away with velocity. “The guy has the arm to throw 100,” Washington said. “I just hope he doesn’t try to throw 110 and the arm goes with the ball.” Joyce said after Tuesday’s game that he believed he could still throw harder. O’Hoppe added: “As far as I know Joycey, he’s not going to stop till he hits 150.” …
The Angels have used six starters in the previous six games, and all six of them are scheduled to start again the next time through the rotation. “When that happens, you can say we’ve got a six-man rotation,” Washington said. “But things change. The guys that are starting, we plan on giving them the ball.” …
Washington has been invited to participate in the retirement ceremony for longtime Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus this week. Andrus will retire as a Ranger on Friday.
Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 2-3, 4.96 ERA) at Rangers (LHP Cody Bradford, 4-2, 3.21 ERA), Thursday, 5:05 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
