“[Nevin] came into the locker room and was like ‘Come with me and bring your phone,’” O’Hoppe recalled Tuesday. “And then he asked how my dad was doing. … I said he was good and he had me call him up and that’s when I had a good idea.”
O’Hoppe was added to the opening day roster Monday and told he would be the catcher when the Angels open the season Thursday at Oakland.
“His mom and dad lost it real quick,” Nevin recalled.
“Us O’Hoppes are criers,” O’Hoppe said. “There were definitely some tears.”
When O’Hoppe takes the field on opening day, he’ll be the youngest Angels catcher to do so … by 188 days, according to the team.
The previous youngest Angels catcher to start on opening day was Buck Rodgers, who was 23 years and 237 days old when he did it in 1962. O’Hoppe will be 23 years and 49 days old.
O’Hoppe, who appeared in five games as a rookie last season and hit .281 this spring, will catch Shohei Ohtani, who’s starting the opener for the second straight year.
“He worked his tail off all winter to be in this position. And he’s earned it,” Nevin added.