Jo Adell is no stranger to hitting Triple-A pitching.
An elite slugger at the level, Adell had 13 home runs in 40 games last season for Triple-A Salt Lake. This season is different, though, as he is riding a five-game home run streak. He secured the mark after taking Rockies farmhand Josh Rogers deep to left field in the fifth inning Saturday night.
Last year when Adell raked in Salt Lake, many still didn’t buy his progress after he struggled at the big league level. Many chalked his Triple-A performance up to the fact that he was playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Adell's numbers with the Angels were not strong, hitting just .224 with eight home runs in 88 games in 2022. That said, the start that he’s off to this season is different than anything he’s ever done before.
After his home run Saturday, Adell was looking at a .370 batting average. He entered the game with a .500 on-base percentage. He was striking out at the same rate he was walking (18.8%).
This is a different version of Adell that the Angels’ organization is looking at. There’s a reason why Angels manager Phil Nevin gave Adell a call after his fourth game with a homer Friday.
The former No. 6 overall prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline is finding the swing that he started to show in 2021 at the Major League level, when he drove in 26 runs in 35 games. His approach at the plate seems to be getting more and more comfortable this time around.
“I’ve done a really good job of controlling what I’m looking for,” Adell said after the fourth game of his five-game home run streak. “That’s been a theme for a while: continuing to hone in on that zone, being OK with taking some strikes and if it’s not where I want it, just give it a pass.”
If there’s any sign that Adell is truly making the progress he needs to in order to make a consistent big league impact, homering in five straight games is a huge step in the right direction.