Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
Early sufficient within the season, you’ll discover some bizarre stats. It is a well-established reality of baseball in April. There’s even a music about it. As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, Kyle Tucker leads the league in place participant WAR, with Aaron Choose third and Corbin Carroll fifth; if the leaderboard seemed like that on the finish of September, it’d in all probability be a light shock — a extremely, extremely profitable one for Tucker — however no person would write a guide about how bizarre the 2025 season was or something.
However Wilyer Abreu is second in WAR and Tyler Soderstrom is fourth. Each of them are promising younger gamers, however no person price listening to had both one within the preseason MVP dialogue.
Briefly, these items will shake out quickly sufficient. There was an previous saying to that impact: Baseball season hasn’t actually began till Mike Trout leads the league in WAR.
However because of Statcast, we are able to get far sufficient up the causal chain that the small-sample wonkiness evens out extra shortly. Any sufficiently lucky hitter can fluke into going 4-for-4, and even hit .400 for a month, however you may’t faux 110+ mph exit velo. Once more, as of Tuesday afternoon, the league chief in EV50 is Choose. Behind him are the standard suspects: Pete Alonso, Shohei Ohtani, Jorge Soler, James Wooden, Kyle Schwarber — the gathering of biceps you usually see at or close to the highest of the house run leaderboard.
To hit the ball arduous isn’t sufficient, nevertheless. A hitter has to hit the ball arduous and within the air — therefore Baseball Savant’s barrels stat, which measures batted balls with an exit velo and launch pace enough to supply a batting common of .500 and a slugging proportion of 1.500.
Choose is second in barrels per batted ball occasion, and Alonso is second in barrels per plate look. The league chief in each: Angels catcher Logan o’hoppe.
It shouldn’t be too shocking that O’Hoppe is hitting the ball arduous. That’s what he does; insofar as there are questions on his recreation, they’re extra defensive than offensive. The 25-year-old from Lengthy Island, who was drafted by the Phillies within the twenty third spherical in 2018 and despatched to the Angels within the Brandon Marsh commerce, is extra of a line drive-slashing-mayhem man than a light-tower-power man.
In his profession, O’Hoppe has hit 9 batted balls at 110 mph or extra, eight of them as a catcher, seven of these because the begin of the 2024 season. Because the begin of 2024, 31 catchers have even one 110 mph batted ball. Solely 4 — Shea Langeliers, Salvador Perezand the Brothers Contreras — have greater than O’Hoppe.
However within the grand scheme of issues, it’s not that many. I adellthe oft-injured Angels outfielder with a profession 78 wRC+, had 13 batted balls final 12 months alone that had been hit more durable than something O’Hoppe’s put in play in his complete profession.
Has O’Hoppe figured one thing out in 2025?
Effectively, via Monday (all stats from right here on out are via Monday), O’Hoppe is rocking a HardHit% of 63.2%, which is thirteenth amongst certified hitters. It’s not like O’Hoppe ever received cheated on his swings — his 20 residence runs final 12 months had been an excellent whole for a catcher, however they got here at a value of 155 strikeouts — however he’s struck out in a 3rd of his plate appearances thus far this season.
Effectively, he’s swinging even more durable this 12 months.
Let It Eat, Logan
Season
Avg. Bat Velocity (mph)
Quick Swing(>75 mph) price
2024
70.7
17.4
2025
72.1
23.8
MLB Common
71.5
22.8
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
Because of Baseball Savant’s new stance monitoring numbers, we are able to see that he’s made changes since final season. O’Hoppe has made minute adjustments in the place he stands, and he’s taken his stance from closed to barely open. This bums me out a bit of; I hit with a closed stance as a child as a result of I wished to be like Derek jeterso I root for any right-handed hitter who closes off his entrance facet, from Giancarlo Stanton to Amir Khan from Yard Baseball. (Simply in case you had been curious, it didn’t assist. I used to be such a nasty Little League hitter I’m positive The Captain would’ve disavowed me if he’d seen me hit.)
O’Hoppe’s foot placement is a bit curious, as a result of regardless that he arrange for an all-fields swing he was nonetheless fairly pull-happy final 12 months: 44.5%, thirty second out of 129 certified hitters.
Anyway: O’Hoppe began making this adjustment on the finish of final 12 months. Right here’s a house run off Carlos Rodón from final Could.
Discover the bat angle (name it 2 o’clock, perhaps 1 / 4 previous) and the leg kick. He begins along with his knees bent however doesn’t dip an excessive amount of as he masses up.
Over the course of the season, he began dropping extra and earlier, and decreasing his leg kick to a toe faucet. That is O’Hoppe’s final residence run of the 2024 season. Apologies for the fade-in from a spotlight of an Astros walk-off.
It’s a tank, bouncing slightly below the Occidental Petroleum signal at what was then Minute Maid Park. If O’Hoppe had gotten into that ball just a bit bit extra, you’ll’ve heard the most effective sounds in baseball: The resonant metallic BONG of a batted baseball hitting one of many Astros Group Companions billboards.
By this level, O’Hoppe’s setup was in two distinct acts: Beginning upright, with the bat flat, after which dropping right into a crouch in the course of the pitcher’s windup, with the bat perking as much as its unique place in the course of the load. In 2025, it seems like this.
I don’t know if O’Hoppe misplaced a bit of weight over the winter, or if he’s simply sporting baggier pants this 12 months. Most likely the latter — the ’90s are again, in spite of everything. Anyway, he seems extra relaxed whereas awaiting the pitch, and extra engaged in his decrease physique whereas the ball is approaching the plate. Whether or not as a result of change in swing mechanics or another adjustment, he’s additionally letting the ball journey ever so barely farther earlier than he hits it.
Now concerning the barrels factor. We’re early sufficient within the season that O’Hoppe has put solely 19 balls in play. Seven of them have been barrels, and 5 of these have gone for residence runs.
All barrels usually are not created equal. Nor are all residence runs. Listed here are O’Hoppe’s 5 homers this season; the final column is what number of parks, out of 30, the ball would’ve gone out of.
Logan O’Hoppe’s 2025 Dingers
Date
Opponent
Pitcher
Stadium
Exit Velo
LA
Dist.
HR/30
3/27
CWS
Cam Booser
Fee Area
109.6
34
417
30
4/2
STL
Sonny Grey
Busch Stadium
103.3
31
404
19
4/4
CLE
Emmanuel Class
Angel Stadium
103.6
26
392
3
4/5
CLE
Tanner Bibee
Angel Stadium
99.9
30
396
13
4/6
CLE
Luis Ortiz
Angel Stadium
105.6
39
391
21
SOURCE: Baseball Savant
To not be uncharitable, however 4 of those are wallscrapers. O’Hoppe’s two barrels that ended up as outs had been each routine fly balls, however on the warning monitor. A pair miles an hour kind of wind, and O’Hoppe may have seven residence runs this 12 months or one.
Which I suppose is the wealthy man’s model of going 3-for-4 on Opening Day with a bunt and two Texas Leaguers. A really wealthy man’s model. In case you had O’Hoppe main the AL in residence runs in your preseason predictions pool, it’s in all probability too early to start out celebrating. However 5 residence runs in seven video games speaks for itself, to a big extent, and he’s hitting the stuffing out of the baseball.
