When the Phillies swapped Logan O’Hoppe for Brandon Marsh in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, it was seen as a plus move for both sides. JT Realmuto was manning the starting catcher’s role for the Fightin’ Phils (he still is), and the team desperately needed big-league ready outfielders.
So, despite O’Hoppe’s status as a can’t-miss prospect, they shipped him off to LA for a highly-regarded young player in Marsh. Marsh, who was 24 at the time, had hit .239 (126-for-528) with 10 home runs, 56 RBI and 14 SBs through 163 games with the Halos.
Now, he’s an All-Star. And though he’s been slumping as of late (the whole team has been, really) Marsh, who’s hitting .280 with 16 HR and 47 RBI, figures to be a central fixture in Philly’s’ plans for the next decade or so.
O’Hoppe, on the other hand, was just traded to the Rangers, who subsequently sent him to Triple-A to continue sharpening his skillset. He was batting .209 with just four homers and 23 RBI when LA made the move. Advantage Phillies.
The Phillies have clearly won the Marsh-O'Hoppe trade at this point in time
O’Hoppe is a tremendous talent, there’s no doubt about that. But thus far, he hasn’t quite been able to put things together to solidify himself as an everyday backstop for a winning franchise.
That’s not an opinionated take. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker explained the decision to move O’Hoppe to Triple-A, emphasizing his potential, but also pointing out the need for him to maximize his reps.
“O’Hoppe. I think this guy's going to be really good” Schumaker told MLB.com. “I think hopefully a change of scenery, with some of our guys, can get him to a place where we all think he can get to. It’s exciting. He’s still young, a controllable catcher. With some injuries we've had on the catching front, I think it helps our depth. I think the front office did a fantastic job of acquiring two really good players.”
Those ‘injuries’ refer to Kyle Higashioka, and Danny Jansen, both of whom are on the IL.
“I think he's excited to go down and work on some stuff,” Schumaker said via MLB. “We have a real plan to get him back to, again, where we think he can be. The kid hits the ball as hard as anybody. He's physical. He's really good at game planning. He's got a great arm. There's a lot of things that we like about him. We're hoping just to get him back to what we think he can be, which is a really good Major League catcher on a winning team.”
The potential is there for 26-year-old, but that’s where his ceiling plateaus as of now – potential. He’s hit below .215 in each of the past two seasons, and while he hit 19 HRs in 2024 with 20 in 2025, the power has not been present enough this season to justify his poor average. He’ll be tasked with making more quality contact, plus improving his strikeout rate (24.9 percent this year), framing (he grades out at -10 according to Savant) and pop (he sits just below 23 percent in caught stealing percentage this year).
Marsh, meanwhile, has arrived, and is almost indisputably a top-three hitter in Philly’s lineup -- even with his struggles against lefties. His ranking among the league’s assortment of corner outfielders is yet to be determined, but he’s earned his standing in Philadelphia clubhouse, and that’s a clear win above LA when evaluating the O’Hoppe trade four years later.
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