Has the Angels’ Jo Adell Finally Found His Footing?

If you ask any Los Angeles Angels fan about Jo Adell, they will likely have strong feelings. At the same time, I’m not sure anyone is 100% confident in how they feel about Adell as a player, due to his frustrating blend of hot stretches and power, followed by a level of play that will leave you scratching your head.

The Angels’ 2017 first-rounder was rushed to the majors during the 2020 season and did not earn regular playing time until 2024. It was four seasons of small samples, swing and miss, and struggles. But you could see flashes that kept drawing your interest and belief back in.

Last year was Adell’s best showing, as he slashed .207/.280/.402 with 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Not exactly what you would expect from a first-rounder in his fifth season, but at least something the Angels could work with. This season, Adell has dialed it up a notch and might finally be blossoming into the best version of himself as a player.

Adell’s 2025 Success

Understanding what Jo Adell has been through in his career isn’t easy or clear. Getting called up before he was ready, receiving sporadic playing time, and bouncing up and down from Triple-A did not give him the best chance at success. When he did get some runway in 2022, he struggled and eventually landed back in Triple-A.

The Adell we are seeing in 2025 is a different player. Sure, the swing and miss and higher strikeout rates are still present, but they’re improving along with his contact. His .230/.303/.471 slash might not look all that different from last season, but the power output is carrying his value.

Through 62 games, Adell has already hit 13 home runs, which puts him on pace to surpass last season’s total of 20. Although, you might remember Adell was on a similar path last season with 12 home runs through 60 games, but this year’s approach and contact have been better.

For starters, Adell’s zone contact rate has climbed for the third straight season, up over two percent from last season but more notably 10 percentage points from 2023. While it might not seem like a big jump, for a player like Adell, who will likely always chase and have swing and miss in his game but power to match, every batted ball matters.

A large part of his success has come from protecting the outer portion of the zone. Adell has struggled to protect that portion of the zone due to his swing and miss on breaking balls that are often located on the outer corner or just off the plate. He’s laid off those pitches at a better rate, and the results are starting to come:

The graphic above shows the zone location for Adell’s home runs (left) and total hits (right). The top row is 2024, and the bottom is 2025.

Last season, Adell’s power relied heavily on pitchers making a mistake and their pitches catching too much of the plate. However, hw has fared much better protecting the outer part of the plate this year, not only putting those balls into play, but doing so with authority.

As you can see from this video, Adell’s power, even on pitches he shouldn’t be able to do that much damage on, is insane. The fact that he could pull some of those pitches or simply drive them out to center shows his potential and why the Angels have stuck with him.

Protecting the outer part of the plate often means a batter is hitting breaking balls. Adell is still running a 38% whiff rate on breaking balls, but his seven home runs off breaking pitches have already matched last year’s total. If he can keep up his .270 average and .667 slugging percentage on breaking pitches, pitchers will have to rely on their fastballs more, which we know Adell can put into the stands.

I understand why some fans might be skeptical to buy into Adell, again, after likely doing so multiple times over the past five seasons. I get it. But, we are seeing the best version of Adell. In just his second full season and still only 26 years old, I can believe there’s something left to uncover.

Over the past two weeks, a .324/.405/.811 with six home runs has absolutely inflated his numbers. Sustaining a home run-to-fly ball rate upwards of 40% is not possible. Still, it goes to show how good Adell can be when he’s lifting the ball more, which he has struggled with at times.

Speaking of struggles, this season hasn’t been perfect. His recent hot stretch has done a lot to mask fan frustration, but Adell still has improvements that he needs to make.

Areas for Concern

For the doubters out there, welcome to the article. I can hear you saying: We’ve all seen this before, it won’t last. Maybe you’re right. We have certainly seen Adell play more bad baseball than good baseball, and his 2025 has not been without its struggles.

Let’s start in the field, where Adell has been asked to be the Angels’ center fielder. It’s a position he had played occasionally in the past, but not well. Nothing has changed.

Adell does not look comfortable tracking balls off the bat and has taken some questionable routes and made some boneheaded errors. I think we all know by now he’s not going be be great in the field, but at least stick him in a corner because center is not going to work.

We also cannot talk about red flags without coming back to his swing and miss. Despite the better production, Adell is posting very similar whiff numbers on all different pitch types. As long as the quality of contact stays the way it has been, then this should not be a big deal. But, if the contact quality decreases, there could be a spiral.

At this point, Adell’s weaknesses are not going to suddenly flip into strengths. I do not think his fielding will be anything more than average, and he’s always going to have swing-and-miss troubles. The difference will be if he can get his weaknesses to a manageable level and lean heavily into his power.

Final Thoughts

I’ve gone through the same mental gymnastics you have, time in and time out with Adell, from believing all the way to thinking he doesn’t have a place in the league. I think I’ve reached the point where I can mentally scrub pre-2024 from my memory and see where Adell can go after stacking full seasons.

I have my reservations, but we have seen plenty of players figure it out around 26 years old. The way his seasons prior to 2024 were handled did not do him any favors. At this point, Adell is a power bat with flaws, and the quicker he and the Angels lean into his strengths and focus less on trying to make him a complete player, the better.

He’s not going to be the five-tool center fielder this team once hoped he could be. But, that doesn’t mean Adell cannot carve out a role and career with his bat. The Angels have little to lose and should give him plenty of chances to make or break this season. It’s up to Adell to show he’s taken that next step.