Angels news: Logan O'Hoppe finally begins long-awaited rehab assignment

The Los Angeles Angels had a rocky first month of the season. It included losses in games they should've won, and nothing more than an average record. One bright spot from early on was the play of catcher Logan O'Hoppe.

In his 16 games this season, he's slashed .283/.339/.547 with four home runs and 13 RBI. Despite batting eighth or ninth a majority of the time, O'Hoppe led the Angels in home runs and RBI for much of the month of April. Not only was his bat good, but he looked awesome behind the plate as well.

O'Hoppe last played in the majors on April 20 against the Yankees before landing on the IL. Once that injury took place, it felt like the Angels were in huge trouble with Matt Thaiss and Chad Wallach as the new catchers. It turns out, for much of the year, they were fine but some recent struggles have made the O'Hoppe injury sting a little more.

Fortunately, O'Hoppe has begun his long-awaited rehab assignment and if all goes well, he should be back in an Angels uniform in less than three weeks.

LA Angels finally receive good injury news with Logan O'Hoppe beginning rehab assignment

It feels like outside of Brandon Drury returning from the IL, the Angels have only been dealing with bad injury news. So many players are on the IL currently, with Zach Neto the latest to join the massive group. Now, the Angels get positive news.

O'Hoppe started last night for Single-A Inland Empire in his first game action since the injury. Unfortunately, he went hitless in three at-bats striking out all three times, but he caught four innings, and just seeing him out there was really encouraging.

The road is still a rather long one for O'Hoppe who's expected to spend most if not the entirety of his 20-day window on his rehab assignment, but this means the latest he can return is August 28. The Angels will be in Philadelphia (O'Hoppe's former team) at the time in the midst of a nine-game road trip before eventually returning home on September fourth for a matchup with the Orioles.

With the way both Matt Thaiss and Chad Wallach have swung the bat the last couple of months, O'Hoppe's return will be a needed one. He'll reclaim his spot as the starting catcher, and will hopefully play in some meaningful September baseball if the Angels can find a way to make a mini run without him.