Taylor Ward's surprise breakout leads to Jo Adell being sent down by LA Angels

Former top five prospect in baseball, LA Angels OF Jo Adell has been sent down to AAA. Entering the season, Adell was expected to be the full-time starting left fielder for the Halos with Justin Upton released, but Taylor Ward has cut into Adell's playing time.

Ward has gone absolutely nuclear this season, hitting .390/.493/.746 (1.239 OPS) with a 265 OPS+. All five of those numbers lead the entire Major Leagues. He's just been unfair. Ward has five home runs on the year with 16 runs scored and 13 RBIs. With him on this type of tear, Adell wasn't going to get everyday playing time.

Adell on the other hand has had a tough time this season, hitting .231/.242/.431 (.673 OPS) with a 97 OPS+. While this shouldn't be held over his head, as it's been incredibly early in the season, it is true that Ward has outperformed him by a mile at this point. Adell has also made three errors so far with -3 defensive runs saved.

Jo Adell is not a bust for the LA Angels yet.

While Jo Adell has been struggling for the LA Angels, it's worth noting that he's played just 92 Big League games in his entire career. He's far from reaching a point where he can be declared a bust.

Besides, it's not like he has done absolutely nothing since being called up last year. He's had 35 RBIs in 54 games these past two seasons--that's 105 RBIs per 162 games. He's shown the talent he has when it comes to driving runners in. It's also not worth it to constantly compare him to Brandon Marsh. Marsh is a year older.

He's improved his slugging percentage every year since he's been up--going from .266 in 2020, to .408 in 2021, to .431 this season. His OPS+ has improved every year as well--going from 30 in 2020, to 90 in 2021, to 97 in 2022. He'll get his reps in Salt Lake, where he has a strong history at, and gain confidence for the next time he's brought up.