O'Hoppe continues to heat up, shines in loss vs. Rox

ANAHEIM -- Logan O'Hoppe has firmly established himself as one of the most important Angels players this season.

The 24-year-old catcher crushed his 15th home run in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss against the Rockies, a game-tying solo home run in the fifth inning.

O’Hoppe became the first Angels catcher with 15 home runs in a season since Mike Napoli hit 17 in 2009. It’s not inconceivable that O’Hoppe could break Lance Parrish’s franchise record of 22 homers hit by a catcher in 1990.

“He played a complete game. I just wished we had someone on the bag in front of him when he hit that home run,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “We’ve seen it all year from him. I just hope it continues.”

O’Hoppe’s 15 home runs are tied for the fifth-most among catchers this season, and he rates extremely well in a host of other categories. Among backstops with at least 150 plate appearances, O’Hoppe ranks third in wRC+ (124), fifth in slugging percentage (.466), sixth in OPS (.801) and is tied for eighth in fWAR (2.2).

It hasn’t simply been about O’Hoppe’s offense, either. The Angels’ catcher threw out Charlie Blackmon to end the top of the seventh inning, which was O’Hoppe’s 24th runner thrown out this season. That figure trails only Seattle's Cal Raleigh's 26.

“[Winning] is all that matters,” O’Hoppe said about Wednesday’s game. “It wasn’t enough, but obviously we have a few more games this weekend to turn it around.”

O’Hoppe doesn’t fare well in other defensive metrics like framing and blocking, but between his excellent offense, strong throwing arm and development as a leader for the Angels, he’s quickly made himself a true building block.

The former 23rd-round pick was behind the plate for Wednesday’s starter, Davis Daniel, who has had quite an adventure this season. Making his fourth start of the year -- all coming since June 27 -- Daniel threw five innings of one-run ball.

“He gave us a really good start,” Washington said. “The thing is we couldn’t score any more runs than the one we got from O’Hoppe.”

Daniel is in the middle of his fourth stint with the Angels. During his first two stints in late April and mid-May, Daniel was recalled and optioned to the Minors the next day without throwing a single pitch both times.

When Daniel made his season debut -- and first career start -- after his third promotion on June 27, he tossed one of the best games ever by an Angels rookie.

Facing off against the Tigers, Daniel became the first rookie in Angels history to toss eight scoreless innings, strike out eight batters and not issue a walk. Daniel also became the fourth pitcher in franchise history with eight scoreless innings in his first start, joining Steve Kealey (1969), Andy Messersmith (1968) and Bill Kelso (1964).

After his dazzling first start, Daniel was roughed up in his next two allowing 12 runs (11 earned) and 15 hits in nine innings against the A’s and Rangers. Two days after his third start, Daniel was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, but he found his way back with the Angels when he was promoted on Friday.

Life can be challenging for a pitcher in Daniel’s shoes. The 27-year-old might not be quite good enough to be a reliable starting pitcher in the Majors, but he’s shown glimpses of adding value in spot starts like these -- even if his best two starts have come against subpar offenses in the Tigers and Rockies.

It probably behooves the Angels to keep giving Daniel looks in the Majors, given the state of their rotation. Patrick Sandoval is out until next year after undergoing elbow surgery, and Reid Detmers has struggled in both the Majors and Minors. Even Chase Silseth -- viewed as a potential long-term starter -- has not pitched since April 8 due to right elbow inflammation and is getting his elbow checked out after experiencing issues in his last start for Salt Lake.