Logan’s Runs Batted In | FanGraphs Baseball

Early sufficient within the season, you’ll discover some bizarre stats. This can be a well-established truth of baseball in April. There’s even a tune about it. As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, Kyle Tucker leads the league in place participant WAR, with Aaron Choose third and Corbin Carroll fifth; if the leaderboard seemed like that on the finish of September, it’d most likely be a gentle shock — a extremely, extremely profitable one for Tucker — however no one would write a ebook about how bizarre the 2025 season was or something.

However Wilyer Abreu is second in WAR and Tyler Soderstrom is fourth. Each of them are promising younger gamers, however no one value listening to had both one within the preseason MVP dialogue.

In brief, this stuff will shake out quickly sufficient. There was an outdated saying to that impact: Baseball season hasn’t actually began till Mike Trout leads the league in WAR.

However because of Statcast, we are able to get far sufficient up the causal chain that the small-sample wonkiness evens out extra shortly. Any sufficiently lucky hitter can fluke into going 4-for-4, and even hit .400 for a month, however you’ll be able to’t faux 110+ mph exit velo. Once more, as of Tuesday afternoon, the league chief in EV50 is Choose. Behind him are the same old suspects: Pete Alonso, Shohei Ohtani, Jorge Soler, James Wooden, Kyle Schwarber — the gathering of biceps you usually see at or close to the highest of the house run leaderboard.

To hit the ball exhausting just isn’t sufficient, nonetheless. A hitter has to hit the ball exhausting and within the air — therefore Baseball Savant’s barrels stat, which measures batted balls with an exit velo and launch velocity adequate to provide a batting common of .500 and a slugging share of 1.500.

Choose is second in barrels per batted ball occasion, and Alonso is second in barrels per plate look. The league chief in each: Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

It shouldn’t be too stunning that O’Hoppe is hitting the ball exhausting. That’s what he does; insofar as there are questions on his sport, they’re extra defensive than offensive. The 25-year-old from Lengthy Island, who was drafted by the Phillies within the twenty third spherical in 2018 and despatched to the Angels within the Brandon Marsh commerce, is extra of a line drive-slashing-mayhem man than a light-tower-power man.

In his profession, O’Hoppe has hit 9 batted balls at 110 mph or extra, eight of them as a catcher, seven of these for the reason that begin of the 2024 season. Because the begin of 2024, 31 catchers have even one 110 mph batted ball. Solely 4 — Shea Langeliers, Salvador Perez, and the Brothers Contreras — have greater than O’Hoppe.

However within the grand scheme of issues, it’s not that many. Jo Adell, the oft-injured Angels outfielder with a profession 78 wRC+, had 13 batted balls final yr alone that had been hit tougher than something O’Hoppe’s put in play in his complete profession.

Has O’Hoppe figured one thing out in 2025?

Nicely, by Monday (all stats from right here on out are by Monday), O’Hoppe is rocking a HardHit% of 63.2%, which is thirteenth amongst certified hitters. It’s not like O’Hoppe ever acquired cheated on his swings — his 20 house runs final yr had been an excellent complete for a catcher, however they got here at a value of 155 strikeouts — however he’s struck out in a 3rd of his plate appearances thus far this season.

Nicely, he’s swinging even tougher this yr.

Due to Baseball Savant’s new stance monitoring numbers, we are able to see that he’s made changes since final season. O’Hoppe has made minute modifications in the place he stands, and he’s taken his stance from closed to barely open. This bums me out just a little; I hit with a closed stance as a child as a result of I needed to be like Derek Jeter, so I root for any right-handed hitter who closes off his entrance aspect, from Giancarlo Stanton to Amir Khan from Yard Baseball. (Simply in case you had been curious, it didn’t assist. I used to be such a nasty Little League hitter I’m certain The Captain would’ve disavowed me if he’d seen me hit.)

O’Hoppe’s foot placement is a bit curious, as a result of regardless that he arrange for an all-fields swing he was nonetheless fairly pull-happy final yr: 44.5%, thirty second out of 129 certified hitters.

Anyway: O’Hoppe began making this adjustment on the finish of final yr. Right here’s a house run off Carlos Rodón from final Might.

Discover the bat angle (name it 2 o’clock, perhaps 1 / 4 previous) and the leg kick. He begins along with his knees bent however doesn’t dip an excessive amount of as he masses up.

Over the course of the season, he began dropping extra and earlier, and lowering his leg kick to a toe faucet. That is O’Hoppe’s final house run of the 2024 season. Apologies for the fade-in from a spotlight of an Astros walk-off.

It’s a tank, bouncing slightly below the Occidental Petroleum signal at what was then Minute Maid Park. If O’Hoppe had gotten into that ball just a bit bit extra, you’d’ve heard the most effective sounds in baseball: The resonant metallic BONG of a batted baseball hitting one of many Astros Neighborhood Companions billboards.

By this level, O’Hoppe’s setup was in two distinct acts: Beginning upright, with the bat flat, after which dropping right into a crouch through the pitcher’s windup, with the bat perking as much as its authentic place through the load. In 2025, it appears like this.

I don’t know if O’Hoppe misplaced just a little weight over the winter, or if he’s simply carrying baggier pants this yr. Most likely the latter — the ’90s are again, in any case. Anyway, he appears extra relaxed whereas awaiting the pitch, and extra engaged in his decrease physique whereas the ball is approaching the plate. Whether or not as a result of change in swing mechanics or another adjustment, he’s additionally letting the ball journey ever so barely farther earlier than he hits it.

Now in regards to the barrels factor. We’re early sufficient within the season that O’Hoppe has put solely 19 balls in play. Seven of them have been barrels, and 5 of these have gone for house runs.

All barrels should not created equal. Nor are all house runs. Listed here are O’Hoppe’s 5 homers this season; the final column is what number of parks, out of 30, the ball would’ve gone out of.

To not be uncharitable, however 4 of those are wallscrapers. O’Hoppe’s two barrels that ended up as outs had been each routine fly balls, however on the warning observe. A pair miles an hour roughly wind, and O’Hoppe may have seven house runs this yr or one.

Which I assume is the wealthy man’s model of going 3-for-4 on Opening Day with a bunt and two Texas Leaguers. A really wealthy man’s model. In case you had O’Hoppe main the AL in house runs in your preseason predictions pool, it’s most likely too early to begin celebrating. However 5 house runs in seven video games speaks for itself, to a big extent, and he’s hitting the stuffing out of the baseball.