The Jo Adell Dilemma
Photo courtesy of Ronald Martinez | Getty Images
Jo Adell can rake.
The prospect recently made headlines for crushing a 514-foot home run while playing in Triple-A for the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels' affiliate. The moonshot was the farthest home run ever recorded in the Statcast era of baseball and brought Adell's home run total to a staggering 20 on the year, the most in every level of the minor leagues. It's no question that Adell can hit well at the Triple-A level, and it has puzzled fans as to why the Halos refuse to call him up to the active roster.
Video Courtesy of Baseball is Everything on youtube.com
The issue with a potential Adell call-up is the crowded outfield room the Angels have. The outfielders on the active roster consist of Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Hunter Renfroe, and former number-one overall pick Mickey Moniak. With Trout being an all-time great, Ward and Renfroe's consistent play, and Moniak's emergence as a consistent bat in the roster, there leaves little room for Adell in the outfield. Adell could not pose as a designated hitter either, as Shohei Ohtani has earned that position every time he doesn't pitch. Adell doesn't have a spot in the outfield amongst those talents, and it is unlikely that an unproven prospect could beat out any of those players for a spot on the 26-man roster.
Adell has an incredible slash line of .280/.365/.586 with an OPS of .951 in Triple-A. The slugger has hit 20 home runs and driven in 50 runs in only 62 games for the Salt Lake Bees. He was called up to the Angels for one game in early June as a fill-in for Hunter Renfroe after the outfielder went on paternity leave. The prospect played well, tallying a walk and a homerun off Drew Smyly in a 3-1 Angels victory over the Chicago Cubs. However, the tenure in the majors was short-lived, as Adell was optioned back to Triple-A a few days after the game.
Ranking as high as the sixth-best prospect in the league in 2020, Adell has been in the Angels' organization since 2017. Besides his June appearance, Adell's performances in the majors have been disappointing since his debut in 2020. His most consistent playing time in the majors was when he played 88 games for the club in 2022, batting only .224 and posting an OPS+ of 78, meaning he was 22% worse than a league-average hitter at the plate. He posted a -0.5 WAR for the season, as his lackluster offense and subpar defense in the outfield created a disastrous situation for a poor-performing Angels team.
Photo courtesy of the Salt Lake Bees | MiLB
Adell is stuck between the minors and the major leagues. He has proven himself to be too good for the minor leagues, as he has a career of .288 batting average and 91 home runs in his six seasons while struggling in the majors. Adell has posted a poor .215 batting average and 16 home runs in his staggered 162 games throughout four seasons. For him to have a spot on the Angels' major-league roster, he needs to prove that he can consistently adjust to and hit major-league pitchers, as the gap between Triple-A and the MLB is too vast for Adell to get a significant grip on. There's no question that Adell certainly has the talent to do so, considering the power he flashed Tuesday night with his moonshot home run and the Alex Rodriguez-like stats he shows in the minors.
With the Angels surprisingly being in the mix for a potential playoff push, Adell's speed and slugging could be efficient in October. He is still only 24 years old, but with the talent the Angels continue to garner at the outfield position, you would have to wonder if he will ever make it to the big leagues if he does not make the 26-man roster within the next couple of years. It seems that these next few seasons in the Angels' farm system will be a make-or-break time in the career of Jo Adell before he fades into oblivion and remains a career minor leaguer.
