TORONTO — As Jo Adell continues to try to find his swing, he can at least take some comfort in the fact that his standard for a slow start has changed.
Last year, Adell was hitting .194 with a .622 OPS on May 28. He didn’t hit his third homer of the season until May 6.
It’s easy to forget that slow start because of what happened next.
Adell finished the season with 37 homers and a .778 OPS. That’s why, even though he’s starting better than he did last year – with four homers and a .649 OPS – there are questions about him.
Adell, in the heart of his prime at 27, is not running from the loftier expectations he created for himself.
“Definitely something is a little off,” Adell said. “I’m surviving in there, being able to put the ball in play and at least make some things happen and giving myself a chance. But definitely not feeling myself, for sure.”
Despite what looks like a disappointing start, Adell is doing enough things well to keep his head above water.
His .258 average is actually an improvement from last year’s .236 mark or his career .220 average heading into the season. A part of that is because Adell has done a better job of making contact. His strikeout rate is down from 26% to 22%, which is just about the league average.
“I think I wanted to be more of a complete player than just being about home runs,” Adell said. “The home runs are going to be there. I know I have light-tower power. I’m going to be able to hit the ball out anywhere. But just to be able to, when we need a base hit or we need someone to come through when we don’t need the big swing, I want to be somebody who can take the bat and get something going. It’s not always going to be the home run.”
While his improved ability to get the bat on the ball is helping in some ways, it’s ironically hurting him in others. He’s flicking balls into play that he should be taking.
“I’m kind of in the middle,” Adell said, “taking pitches that I should be hitting and then hitting the borderline pitches and putting them in play when I should be taking them.”
Adell’s walk rate is just 2%, down from last year’s 6% and below the major league average of 10%.
One difference, Adell said, is that the league’s pitchers are now firmly on to what he was doing last year.
Adell got hot last season when he went to a more aggressive approach, especially early in the count. Adell hit 17 homers – almost half of his total – on the first pitch.
This year, Adell said pitchers are treating him differently.
“Last year I was getting pitches this time of year that I haven’t seen as much,” Adell said. “Their game plan has changed. … A lot of backwards pitching. Offspeed early and fastballs later in the count at different parts of the zone. But that’s as I figured, so nothing surprises me.”
Adell has a solid team working behind him to try to get going again. He said he thinks Angels hitting coach Brady Anderson is “awesome.”
“Everything that you talk about in the box, he’s felt it before,” Adell said. “You’re really able to spitball those kind of ideas and talk about what you’re feeling and how to be better from those games where you might feel a little off.”
Adell and Anderson worked together a couple years ago, when Anderson was a special guest instructor in Angels camp. He has also spent time over the past two years with Chili Davis, a longtime major league hitting coach and a former Angels slugger.
“I still talk to Chili, just the mental kind of spitballing back and forth about feelings, using him as a resource,” Adell said. “He’s awesome. Obviously, he did it from both sides of the plate, so he gets it from every which way he could get it. Hundred precent like bouncing ideas off his head too.”
With that help, Adell seems confident that he knows what he needs to change.
“I’m definitely pulling off the ball a lot, hitting a lot of balls off the end of the bat,” Adell said. “The balls I’m putting in play are either not all the way squared up or they’re in between, kind of like jam shots. I’m not barreling the ball as well as I think I did at times last year.”
MLB’s official stats define a “barrel” as any ball hit 98 mph or harder with a launch angle of 26 to 30 degrees. Those are balls that have a batting average over .500 and often go over the fence.
Last season, 17% of the balls that Adell put in play were barrels. This year, it’s been 5%.
That helps explain why, even though ground balls and bloopers are getting him enough singles to remain somewhat productive, he’s had only six extra-base hits. His slugging percentage is .351, down from .485.
“I’m in survival mode right now,” Adell said. “Just got to continue to grind it out.”
Like he did last year.
“That’s why it’s a marathon,” Adell aid. “You can’t get caught up in the first month. You’ve got to continue to go. I’ve been able to battle in my at-bats and be a factor. Even though I’m not feeling my best, it shows me what I can do when things aren’t well. When they are there, then I’ll be locked and loaded.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 1-2, 4.28 ERA) at Blue Jays (RHP Dylan Cease, 2-1, 3.05 ERA), Friday, 4:07 p.m. PT, ABTV, 830 AM
