Sebastian Rivero’s untimely injury highlights Angels’ organizational flaw that goes back years

The Los Angeles Angels got a tough break the other day as catcher Sebastian Rivero went down with an injury. He will undergo surgery for a left hamate fracture and will be out for four weeks. The injury makes one consider the fact that the Angels have really struggled in the catcher department for some time now. It’s an issue they have to address at some point. Otherwise they will continue to undervalue one of the most important positions on the field.

Rivero’s injury is unfortunate but at least he isn’t the team’s primary catcher. Logan O’Hoppe is the main guy behind the dish for the Halos so he deserves the brunt of the blame for the team’s struggles at the position.

O’Hoppe was highly touted and it seemed like he could finally be LA’s answer but that just has not been the case. The 26-year-old has shown flashes of his potential in the big leagues but the overall numbers leave a lot to be desired.

Logan O'Hoppe has not been nearly as good as Angels had hoped for

Since he debuted with the Angels back in 2022, O'Hoppe has hit .229/.287/.398 with 56 home runs and 146 runs batted in. That sort of prediction is what most teams expect to get from their backup catcher, not the guy they count on to start over 100 games in the squat every season.

O’Hoppe does have quite a bit of pop in his bat, which is him one redeeming quality as a player. In his best season with the Angels back in 2024 he hit 20 homers and slashed .244/.303/.409 on the year. If he consistently put up those power numbers, then it would be easier to defend him, but he’s only left yard three times in 2026 and is hitting a dismal .212/.292/.314 on the year.

It would be one thing if he was strong defensively to make up for his inconsistency at the plate but he’s not. He’s seen as an above-average arm behind the plate but his skills as a framer rank near the bottom of MLB. 

O’Hoppe isn’t an awful catcher and he has some redeeming qualities as a player, but it’s just been a long time since the Angels had a really good, reliable catcher behind the plate. They have a couple interesting catchers in the top-30 of their farm system so maybe in a few years they will finally find that above-average catcher they’ve been looking for. 

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