LA Angels: 5 promising facts about the young core

No. 1 promising fact about the LA Angels’ young core: Jo Adell has 16 Runs Batted In in 20 Games Played

Let’s face it – we’re all still waiting on Jo Adell to show that he can be “that guy”. Dubbed as the next “Robin” to the Angels’ “Batman” (Mike Trout), Adell struggled mightily in 2020. He put up a whopping -13.2 offensive WAR in 38 games, and a -5.3 defensive WAR.

His season can be summed up by the infamous headbutt homerun, in which he misplayed a ball in right field, allowing a fly ball hit short of the wall to hit his head and hop over the wall for a homerun. Although his struggles have continued at the big league level in 2021, Adell hit 23 bombs in just 73 games in AAA this year, warranting a well-deserved second shot at the big leagues. Still leaving much to be desired, Adell is hitting .213 with a .263 OBP and 5% walk rate (all stats in this article are as of August 25th).

Although still above league average, Adell’s 2020 41.7% strikeout rate is down 13% to 28.7%. He has knocked in an impressive 16 runs in only 20 games, highlighted by his mammoth grand slam in Detroit. If Adell can learn a little bit more plate discipline, he will almost certainly be a reliable run producer in the middle of the Angels lineup for the rest of 2021 and 2022.