Jo Adell's 2024 adjustments will spearhead a breakout 2025 campaign

It seems like it's been forever that the Angels have been waiting for Jo Adell to finally live up to his potential. While he's played parts of the previous five seasons, a combination of injuries and poor performance have held the promising young outfielder back. It wasn't until 2024 that the outfielder, who FanGraphs once ranked as the ninth best prospect in baseball, topped the 100 games played mark.

Despite more regular playing time, the results were still underwhelming. Adell owns a career line of .211/268/.381 which has been good for a 78 wRC+. 2024 wasn't much different, with him tallying a .207/.290/.402 line and a marginally better 90 wRC+.

An oblique injury in September shut him down in the season's twilight and had some wondering if it was time for the Angels to move on from the soon-to-be 26-year-old outfielder. Yet here we are -- eagerly anticipating the start of Spring Training, with Adell penciled in as a member of the Opening Day roster...and there's a good reason why.

Jo Adell's midseason adjustment renewed the Angels' faith that a breakout is incoming

Outside of a hot start to the season, Adell was miserable for most of the first half. After that initial promising start, Adell posted a cringeworthy .162/241/.328 line over a 73-game span. Then, on July 30th, he made an adjustment that could change everything. He ditched his exaggerated leg kick and shortened up his swing in an effort to make more consistent, and better contact. It's a version of Zach Neto's 2-strike approach, for reference.

The results speak for themselves. From the date of the adjustment to September 7th when he suffered the oblique injury, Adell slashed .248/320/.451 with 5 homers and a 117 wRC+ in 125 plate appearances.

The contact rates bear out that the adjustment was working. Prior to July 30th, Adell was making hard contact only 29.5% of the time. When he put bat to ball, he was generating line drives only 16.5% of the time, ground balls 38% of the time, and fly balls 45.5% of the time.

From July 30th until September 7th, he upped his hard contact rate to 36.6%. He still put the ball in the air a lot, elevating his rate to 47.6%. Most importantly, he hit line drives significantly more often at 23.2%. A sample size of 125 plate appearances is small, but when the performance uptick corresponds to such a deliberate change in approach it is still significant.

Adell has holes in his game, like how he still strikes out too often. However, his new approach allows him to hit the ball with more authority when he does make contact, allowing him to tap into his natural tools more often. He should continue producing at a 115-120 wRC+ which, while not superstar level, is more than respectable and above average.

The next hurdle he'll have to overcome is staying healthy, and if he's able to do so Angels fans can expect an impressive breakout in 2025 if he can continue to field his position like he showed in '24.

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