2 Angels hitters who will surpass their 2025 projections, and 1 who will not

Logan O'Hoppe will be a big disappointment

2025 Steamer Projection: .238/.305/.423, 105 wRC+, 19 homers, 1.9 fWAR

Catcher is a tough position. A player needs to be one-part therapist, one-part strategist, and one-part offensive weapon... all while undertaking the most physically demanding and unique defensive assignment on the field. Logan O'Hoppe, on the surface, looks like he has it all handled entering his age-25 season. After all, he's swatted 34 dingers in just 192 career games, which is pretty impressive for a young backstop.

2024 was very much a Jekyll-and-Hyde season for the young catcher. In the first half, he posted a .276/.328/.472 line. In the second half, his strikeout rate ballooned to 38.2% and his productivity came crashing to the ground with a .196/.266/.312 performance.

Some data points to his second half being more indicative of what can be expected of him than his first half. On the year, his chase rate (34%) was 16th percentile, his overall strikeout rate (29.7%) was 8th percentile, and his whiff rate (33,6%) was 7th percentile. That's a whole lot of swing-and-miss, especially on pitches out of the zone.

Furthermore, his bat speed is just in the 28th percentile and he rarely squared up pitches posting a 22.7% rate finishing in the 27th percentile. He did do damage when he connected on pitches, with exit velocity in the 70th percentile and a launch angle sweet-spot rate that was tops in the league (100th percentile).

What is questionable is whether or not a strikeout-prone catcher with middling bat speed can continue to produce above-average power numbers while also getting on base at a clip that is sufficiently productive.

The last factor that can hold him back is the addition of veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud. Now on the back nine of his career, d'Arnaud has spoken about wanting to mentor O'Hoppe and help him maximize his talents.

That said, he has a long track record of production, and his 1.8 fWAR and 103 wRC+ last season show that he's still got something left in the tank. Should O'Hoppe struggle, it wouldn't surprise to see d'Arnaud eat into his playing time, potentially even supplanting him as a starter in 2025.

All of this isn't to say that all hope is lost for O'Hoppe. He's still very young and has the talent to turn into a cornerstone piece. However, he will need to make some big adjustments and the growing pains to come will hold him back from reaching his projections in 2025.

More LA Angels News from Halo Hangout