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Long Islander Logan O’Hoppe is set to make franchise history for the Los Angeles Angels.
The 23-year-old catcher from Sayville will become the youngest catcher to ever start an opening-day game with the Angels, according to the LA Times.
O’Hoppe will take to the field at 23 years and 49 days old. The previous record holder, Buck Rodgers, who was 23 years and 237 days old in 1962.
The game is set to take place Thursday, March 30, away against the Oakland Athletics at 10:07 p.m. O’Hoppe will be catching for Shohei Ohtani, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.
The 2018 St. John the Baptist grad joined the Angels last summer via a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies.
After being acquired late in the season, O’Hoppe saw limited action. He played five games and batted .286 with two RBIs.
He got his first Majors action on September 28, funny enough, against the A’s.
While several Long Island hurlers have starred recently in the Major Leagues, i.e. Pat-Med’s Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz of Stony Brook, O’Hoppe became the first position player from Long Island to reach the Major Leagues since Reid Gorecki in 2009 with the Braves.
As the top prospect in the Angels organization, O’Hoppe made a splash this spring training. In 12 games, he hit .281 with a .799 OPS and a home run.
On Monday, he received the exciting news that he made the opening-day roster, a moment that was emotional for him and his family.
“Us O’Hoppes are criers,” he told the LA Times. “There were definitely some tears.”
April has been good to the O’Hoppe family. Last April, O’Hoppe’s father, Michael, announced that he was cancer-free after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021.
Top: Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe reaches for a base hit ball by Cleveland Guardians’ Myles Straw during the third inning of a spring training baseball game, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
