SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The encouraging stretch of Logan O\u2019Hoppe\u2019s season seems like a distant memory.<\/p>\n
The Angels\u2019 catcher hit .354 with a 1.013 OPS over a 15-game span in June, which he said was because he resumed doing a pregame hitting routine that he\u2019d discovered as a young minor leaguer<\/a>.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hoppe is still doing the same routine, but he\u2019s now hit .127 with a .294 OPS over his past 20 games.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like we\u2019ve talked about my struggles at the plate for the past two seasons, and I think the more we talk about it, the more you realize how pissed off I am about it,\u201d O\u2019Hoppe said on Friday. \u201cEveryone knows the player I was when I got traded over here (in 2022). Everyone knows the player I was when I debuted until about midway through \u201924. I was really confident in that. I was playing well, hitting homers.\u201d<\/p>\n In an injury-shortened 2023 season, O\u2019Hoppe hit 14 home runs in 51 games, with a .796 OPS. He hit 16 homers with an .804 OPS through the first four months of 2024. In nearly two years since, he\u2019s hit .204 with a .592 OPS.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one wants me to get back to that player more than I do,\u201d O\u2019Hoppe said. \u201cI\u2019ve shown I could do it. Shoot, I was two years younger when I did it, so I\u2019m more than capable of doing it. I work too hard to not be that.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Hoppe was not in the lineup on Wednesday, with an off day in between, or Friday. Manager Kurt Suzuki said there was no larger plan behind the consecutive days off. The Angels were facing a right-handed pitcher on Friday night, so Suzuki wanted the left-handed bat of switch-hitting catcher Tyler Heineman in the lineup. The Angels are facing lefties on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n Suzuki said he still has faith that O\u2019Hoppe can improve.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to go through good times, and you\u2019re going to go through tough times,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cSometimes when you\u2019re having his struggles, he\u2019s getting a pitch to hit and he\u2019s fouling it off. That can get frustrating. I think we\u2019ve just got to go to the basics, right? Get a good pitch and have a good approach and stick with it. Try not to worry too much about results. Try to worry more about process than results.\u201d<\/p>\n JOYCE UPDATE<\/p>\n