ANAHEIM — It took Jo Adell eight years to get back to where he started.
Adell is completing a breakthrough season, one in which he entered the final three games with 37 home runs, 97 RBIs and a .786 OPS. Among a handful of adjustments that Adell made to get to this point, one of the most visible is what he does in the batter’s box with his front foot.
Over the past two seasons, Adell has gone from a leg kick to a toe tap to what he settled on this year, which was something in between. A leg lift, he called it.
“I have my high school swing back,” Adell said on Friday. “It’s obviously a much better swing, but the comfort aspect and trusting that, if I’m 0 for 4 or 4 for 4, the same move will work.”
Adell made the last change before the series starting on May 26, and he has hit 31 homers with an .852 OPS in the last 104 games.
He said he doesn’t regret going through all the phases of his development, including the parts when he struggled.
“I wouldn’t take any of this back,” he said. “The experience of me tinkering around and trying to find what works. The leg kick. The toe tap. All sort of stuff. My niche is definitely the leg lift. It allows me to put out the same swing consistently.”
Adell has also said that being more aggressive at the plate has helped him cut down his strikeouts, because he is jumping on pitches early in the count instead.
The next step for Adell is to add some more discipline to that aggression.
“Hopefully I can pick more and more even better pitches to hit than I did this year,” Adell said. “That will lead to more walks and a higher on-base percentage. That’s what I’m shooting for.”
Adell’s .296 on-base percentage and 6% walk rate are still both below average.
Interim manager Ray Montgomery said he’s been impressed with how Adell bounced back from the struggles early in his career. Adell had a career .214 average and .625 OPS going into 2024.
When asked what the key was for Adell to turn the corner, Montgomery said: “I think the ability to handle failure, the ability to continue to work through failure. I don’t think at any point we’ve ever seen any break from the effort. I think understanding who he is, maybe putting aside some of the expectation type stuff.”
Adell, 26, is arbitration-eligible for the next two seasons, and then he’s eligible for free agency after the 2027 season.
“He’s overcome a lot of challenges to get to this point,” Montgomery said, “and I still think there’s a lot of room for him to continue to improve.”
NOTES
Right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson (elbow inflammation) is still weighing his treatment options after undergoing tests earlier this week. …
Montgomery had no update on how third baseman Anthony Rendon has progressed in his rehab from hip surgery. Rendon has missed the entire season. “I don’t have any information in regards to where it stands for next year, where his health currently sits, other than I’m rooting for him,” Montgomery said. …
This weekend the Houston Astros have a chance to be the first visiting team to clinch a postseason berth at Angel Stadium since 2009, when the New York Yankees did so.
UP NEXT
Astros (TBD) at Angels (RHP Caden Dana, 0-3, 6.39 ERA), Saturday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM