Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki has a lot on his plate right now, especially as a rookie manager who will be learning on the job. 

But one of Suzuki’s biggest and most important tasks will be quite familiar to him, and that’s fixing Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. The once promising catcher went downhill last year, and he ended the season feuding with interim manager Ray Montgomery. 

Suzuki certainly has the chops to fix this relationship, though. He spent 15 years as a big league catcher in all kinds of situations, so he’s seen his share of catchers who are where O’Hoppe is right now. 

The feud between O’Hoppe and Montgomery got bad. O’Hoppe was already struggling when former manager Ron Washington left the team due to health issues, but Montgomery’s comments about O’Hoppe losing the trust of the pitching staff clearly bothered the catcher, as he indicated in a piece in The Athletic last month in which the catcher aired his grievances about their relationship. 

One thing that will be intriguing is what Suzuki thinks of iO’Hoppe’s defensive skills. Montgomery also criticized O’Hoppe’s ability to frame pitches, although the evaluation of this skill is about to change significantly with the ABS challenge system, i.e., “robot umps,” about to come into use next year. 

Fixing O’Hoppe’s issues will also be integrally tied into improving the pitching staff. New pitching coach Mike Maddux will almost certainly have a hand in this, so expect plenty of changes in the game-calling process this season. To some extent O’Hoppe will be relearning parts of the position based on the input of the manager and pitching coach, and it will also be interesting to see how he takes their feedback, too. 

Another strong element of this relationship will be the backup catcher slot. It’s not uncommon for a new manager like Suzuki to add an “old head” backup with signfiicant defensives kills and expertise, and it’s hard to imagine Suzuk not doing just that. The current backup, catcher Travis D’Arnaud, certainly fits the bill on paper, but given that D’Arnaud is 36 and he hit just .197 last year, Suzuki might want to go in a different direction. 

Suzuki’s new bench coach could also play a pivotal role in this process. Bench coaches are often managerial confidants, so whoever Suzuki chooses in that role will play an important part, too, especially when it comes to how analytics are applied to the catching position. It's a lot to take on, but this is a big part of why the Angels hired Suzuki for the job.