LOS ANGELES — As if the stats did not tell the story of how much Logan O’Hoppe needed his mammoth blast in the second inning Monday, his fist pump while leaving the batter’s box most certainly did.
O’Hoppe’s three-run home run started the Angels toward a 6-0 victory over the host Dodgers in the middle game of the Freeway Series. The Dodgers won the opener, 5-3, on Sunday with the finale of the exhibition set for Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers finished off a solid spring with five scoreless innings, giving up three hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Detmers had a 2.45 ERA in five spring outings and appears to be headed toward the No. 3 spot in the rotation and a potential outing Sunday on the road against the Baltimore Orioles.
“Can’t say I felt the best but the result is what I wanted and I got to do it here at Dodger Stadium against the Dodgers and it’s a pretty good feeling,” Detmers said. “Just fastball command was off. The last couple of weeks fastball command hasn’t been the greatest. I’m trying to figure out some stuff with that but everything else was really good.”
For all of his success throughout the outing, the pitch that seemed to resonate the most was a fastball up and in to walk former teammate Shohei Ohtani in the fifth inning. Ohtani let out a sigh of relief as he staggered out of the batter’s box.
“We got a little laugh about it, Shohei was laughing,” Detmers said. “I said ‘I’m sorry.’”
O’Hoppe’s second homer of the spring came off Dodgers right-hander Gavin Stone, who gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in 4⅓ innings with four strikeouts. Stone is projected to make his first start of the season Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I thought Gavin was fine, just made a couple mistakes,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But there’s not as much scouting in these exhibition games as there will be going forward.”
Dodgers right-hander Daniel Hudson, who had just three appearances last season, gave up two runs while recording both of his outs by strikeout. Hudson made a scoreless appearance in the regular-season opener at South Korea last week against the San Diego Padres and picked up the win.
In addition to his walk, Ohtani grounded out twice against Detmers as he played shortly after addressing the controversy around former interpreter Ippei Mitzuhara, who is accused of draining as much as $4.5 million from Ohtani’s personal account for alleged sports wagering.
The Dodgers’ top three in the order of Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman combined to go 1 for 8 with a walk. Freeman had the lone hit of the bunch, while Max Muncy had a pair of hits.
ARM WORK
On a busy day, Ohtani also did some light throwing in the outfield before the game, which is believed to be the first time he has town a ball since his elbow surgery in September.
While Ohtani will not pitch for the Dodgers this season following his UCL repair, he did take another step in his rehab by making easy tosses from about 50 feet during a game of catch.
The Dodgers have not ruled out Ohtani playing in the field later this season with Manager Dave Roberts saying he is willing to “have that conversation,” if Ohtani’s rehab is progressing well. The right-hander’s recovery timeline does have him potentially facing hitters in a closed setting by late September of this year.
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GETTING CLOSER
Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson is progressing well from right shoulder inflammation and threw from 120 feet. After signing a three-year, $33 million contract in the offseason, Stephenson did not pitch in a Cactus League game.
The 31-year-old delivered a 3.10 ERA in 60 relief outings last season for the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays and is projected to pitch in the late innings in front of closer Carlos Estevez.
In other Angels injury news, right-hander Sam Bachman (shoulder surgery) and left-hander Jose Quijada (elbow surgery) are continuing with their throwing progressions, while infielder Michael Stefanic (quadriceps strain) has resumed light baseball activity. All three remain in Arizona.