This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- It wasn’t supposed to happen this quickly.

Logan O’Hoppe, the Angels’ No. 1 prospect, wasn’t expected to be the club’s regular catcher to open the season but he was forced into the role due to an unfortunate situation for fellow catcher Max Stassi, who is out attending to a family emergency and also dealing with a hip strain.

O’Hoppe, though, has taken full advantage. He’s off to a hot start offensively and has been drawing raves for the way he’s been handling the pitching staff. O'Hoppe, 23, is hitting .278 with two homers, a double and a team-leading eight RBIs in five games. He’s had a knack for driving in the first run of the game for the Angels, doing it four times already this season, including the first three games in a row.

Angels manager Phil Nevin has been impressed with what he’s seen from O’Hoppe and said the offense he’s been providing has been the cherry on top.

“We told him before, ‘handle the pitching staff. Your offense is gonna be fine. We're not worried about it,’” Nevin said. “I don't really care about the offense right now. Maybe it helped him, I don't know. But he's taking good at-bats. He's leading our staff. I love the way he's handling these guys.”

O’Hoppe, ranked as the No. 50 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, was acquired at last year’s Trade Deadline from the Phillies with outfielder Brandon Marsh being sent to Philadelphia. He excelled at Double-A and got his first taste of the Majors last year, getting called up in late September and playing in five games, including two games in Oakland to end the season.

It helped him feel more comfortable heading into this season, but he said hearing he made the Opening Day roster was an emotional experience for him and his family. Nevin called him into his office three days before Opening Day and told him to bring his phone so that O’Hoppe could call his parents to share the moment and tell them the news.

“Us O’Hoppes are criers,” O’Hoppe said with a smile. “There were definitely some tears.”

It was the first of what should be many Opening Day starts for O’Hoppe, who became the youngest Angels catcher to start on Opening Day, at 23 years, 49 days old. He went 1-for-3 with an RBI single on Opening Day and collected his first career homer in the club’s third game on Sunday.

“Opening Day was quick, and I think [Saturday] coming in, it slowed down for me,” O’Hoppe said. “[Sunday] felt like just another game. I think I’m getting used to the environment, getting used to the third deck. All that stuff. I’m really excited because I feel like my heart rate is a little slower.”

The Angels firmly believe O’Hoppe is their catcher of the future and he has the leadership skills to match. The first five games of the season have simply given a glimpse of what that the future could look like for O’Hoppe.

“We feel like we have a really, really good player,” Nevin said. “Somebody that can be with us for a long time and lead us. He walked into this room in this clubhouse last year and you could just see some leadership qualities in him, and it's hard when you’re 22 years old. But right away, he was the head of the meetings with the pitchers. It’s rare.”