Sal Fasano and the catchers will have a dynamic impact on the Angels' 2025 pitching

Being a catcher is one of the most demanding jobs in all of professional sports. In addition to the physical toll -- hours of squatting behind the plate, having cat-like reflexes to block balls in the dirt, and the bumps and bruises from foul tips -- one has to navigate the pitching staff as well as contribute on offense. Fortunately, the Angels have two very good ones on their roster.

Being that the catcher position is the most unique defensive assignment, and players playing that role have to be part coach and part therapist in order to get the best out of their colleagues on the mound.

That's why the Angels' radically outside the box assistant pitching coach, Sal Fasano, will lead one of the league's best catching duos in a quest to unlock the best in an Angels' pitching staff that features up-and-coming young arms and wily veterans alike.

Speaking of the Angels' catching duo, starter Logan O'Hoppe, despite a second-half swoon, has already established himself as one of the best offensive catchers in the game. His 101 wRC+ ranked 13th in the league among catchers who logged at least 400 plate appearances in 2024, an admittedly small list given the physical demands of the position.

Joining him behind the dish is Travis d'Arnaud, another former Atlanta Braves' import, who along with Fasano will help the young O'Hoppe unlock the mental strategy involved in calling a game and managing a pitching staff to maximize the hurlers' abilities.

The Angels' backwards approach to optimize pitching performance is forward-thinking

While Barry Enright is the pitching coach and will have plenty of direct communication with the pitching staff, having Fasano as his partner in crime, while seemingly backwards, is a tremendous boon for the Angels.

We often think about pitching from the mound first, however, the pre-game strategizing is done with heavy collaboration and input from the catchers who are the ones putting down the signs and leading the charge in how pitchers are approaching hitters.

To that end, sharpening that focus and translating the analytics into game planning first with the catchers who are calling the game -- and who have an outsized impact on the pitch selection of younger, inexperienced arms -- makes tremendous sense.

Fasano, with his extensive experience as a catcher, as a hitter, and working with pitchers dating all the way back to his role in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system where he crossed paths with Angels general manager Perry Minasian, brings a valuable perspective that's not often considered when running a pitching staff.

After all, the guy with the best view of a pitcher's stuff and what is and isn't working on any given day, isn't the guy on the mound or a coach in the dugout, it's the guy catching every pitch and watching every swing the opposition takes.

Amplifying the catchers' role in managing the pitching staff and providing real-time feedback to the hurlers on the mound makes so much sense that you have to wonder why more teams haven't employed more former catchers on their pitching coaching staffs.

With so many young arms on the staff or soon to find roles on the big league roster, having this fresh perspective that emphasizes stuff, real-time adjustments based on what is and not working on a particular day, and the veteran leadership that d'Arnaud can provide to O'Hoppe and the pitchers to further Fasano's vision, the Angels are set up for a transformative year.

For a team that has struggled dramatically to develop young arms over the years, Fasano and this new approach might finally be the turning point for the Angels to start turning pitching potential into pitching performance that can be the envy of the league.

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