ANAHEIM -- Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe avoided the 7-day concussion list, as he felt better on Saturday after being hit in the face mask by a foul ball in the third inning in Friday’s game against the Red Sox, forcing him to exit.
O’Hoppe underwent concussion testing protocol and passed, being cleared to return on Saturday. But Angels manager Kurt Suzuki held him out for precautionary reasons, giving Tyler Heineman the start against Boston.
“I'm fine today,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s just been a lot the last two weeks, getting my bell rung. You want to be careful with it, so that's why I came out like I did. I didn't feel any worse, felt a little foggy after the hit, but I didn't have to shut it all down or anything.”
Against lefty Reid Detmers with two on and one out, Andruw Monasterio fouled back a four-seam fastball that hit off the side of O’Hoppe’s mask and caused him to immediately fall backward. Home-plate umpire Adam Beck helped keep O’Hoppe steady before head athletic trainer Mike Frostad visited home plate.
It was a scary moment, and O’Hoppe quickly left the game with Frostad, though he was able to walk away on his own accord and wasn’t down for an extended period of time. He was replaced by Heineman behind the plate.
“I don't know why it's happening more this year than ever, but I want to live my life whenever it's the time to stop playing this game,” O’Hoppe said. “So that plays into it more than anything else.”
O’Hoppe said he’s never officially been diagnosed with a concussion despite landing on the 7-day concussion list last September on a freak play that saw A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson’s bat hit under O’Hoppe’s chin before he started a practice swing.
O’Hoppe has considered changing the helmet he wears under his mask, but he’d prefer not to change his mask from the All-Star Sports one he currently uses.
“I have a new skull cap that we looked at,” O’Hoppe said. “But as far as the mask goes, I've been using All-Star my whole career and haven't had a diagnosed concussion in my career, so I’m going to continue with this.”
O’Hoppe, 26, previously missed time after sustaining a fractured wrist on April 25. He missed 19 games from April 26-May 14 with the injury, but he’d been swinging a hot bat recently. Over his last 19 games, O'Hoppe slashed .305/.317/.475 with two homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs but didn’t come to the plate before suffering his injury on Friday. He’s slashing .228/.290/.333 with four homers, eight doubles and 23 RBIs on the season.
Suzuki, himself a big league catcher for 16 years, said they’ve been working to find out why O’Hoppe has taken such a beating behind the plate this season. But O’Hoppe has been reluctant to switch to a spring-cushioned mask preferred by veteran Travis d’Arnaud.
“We've been talking to him about some equipment changes,” Suzuki said. “It's a scary thing. And those things, you never know when it's going to happen. It's just such a freak thing. But he's open to it. And we’ve been having conversations about how we can help him.”