MLB Rumors: 4 external catching options for Angels after Logan O’Hoppe injury

With Logan O’Hoppe out for four to six months, the Los Angeles Angels will have to get creative to replace him. Here are four external options.

The injury to Logan O’Hoppe is devastating for the Los Angeles Angels for multiple reasons. One, it sidelines one of baseball’s emerging young stars for four to six months. Secondly, it weakens their lineup and impacts their pitching staff — he was the team’s No. 1 catcher — and there is no clear internal option to replace him.

This could force the Angels to look externally for catching help, especially since the team needs to (at least) make the postseason for a serious chance at retaining Shohei Ohtani in the offseason.

Replacing O’Hoppe, 23, will prove challenging. In 16 games, he was hitting .283 with four home runs and 13 RBI. Max Stassi, the team’s other catcher, is out with a hip injury and is away from the team dealing with a family emergency. And the external options just so happen to be uninspiring.

Angels have limited options for replacing Logan O’Hoppe

If the Angels are to explore a trade, perhaps Boston Red Sox catcher Jorge Alfaro or San Francisco Giants catcher Gary Sanchez could make some sense. Both are veteran options and are signed to minor-league contracts and obtaining either could prove relatively cheap.

If the Angels are to explore the free-agent market, then the options are slim and uninspiring. The two best options are Austin Romine and Robinson Chirinos, an 11-year veteran who is coming off a season in which he hit a mediocre .179/.265/.287 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 67 games with the Baltimore Orioles.

None of those options will adequately replace O’Hoppe. But the Angels may need to explore one of those four options — at least until the trade deadline, when teams are willing to part with bigger and more meaningful assets.