ANAHEIM — When Jo Adell robbed J.P. Crawford of a homer, it was not only a big moment in protecting the Angels’ lead, it was an indication of the progress the Angels believe Adell has made as a center fielder.
Adell said the play he made against the Seattle Mariners shortstop was because he’s worked on getting aggressively back to the wall. There have been other plays at the wall this season when Adell couldn’t make the robbery.
“With that particular play, I was able to get back and be aggressive,” Adell said. “That’s what we’ve worked on. And I think throughout the season. You have those ones where you don’t feel as aggressive, and a little more passive, and I’ve been through that.”
Adell, 26, struggled defensively in the first few years of his career. In 2024, with regular playing time in right field, Adell made dramatic strides. He finished second among major league right fielders in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), according to FanGraphs. He was a finalist for the Gold Glove award.
This season, the Angels moved Adell to center field when they decided that Mike Trout should play right. He performed poorly at the start of the season, and the Angels temporarily moved him back to right when Trout went on the injured list.
In late May, when the Angels thought Trout would be soon returning to right, they moved Adell back to center, and they’ve left him there for two months.
“There’s a lot of nuance things that go into playing center field that you don’t have on the corners,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “And we’ve seen growing pains with him throughout the course of the year. But I think every time you get more and more reps out there, you just get more and more comfortable with those types of plays, among other things. He’s been great. He’s doing a nice job.”
Bo Porter, the Angels’ outfield coach, said one of the key improvements they’ve made with Adell is his pre-pitch routine. They now have him in a better position to get a break on the ball when it’s passing through the hitting zone. They’ve also worked with Adell on something as simple as making sure he moves into the right place when he adjusts his positioning to keep from having his view of the plate blocked by an infielder or the umpire.
“We’ve had enough conversations to clear all that up to where I think he’s seeing the ball really well in the action zone, which is allowing him to make some plays that he probably would not have made a month or two months ago,” Porter said.
Despite the eye test and a few highlight reel plays suggesting that Adell is dramatically improved, he’s still not rated highly by the metrics.
He ranks 20th of 21 qualified center fielders in terms of DRS. He’s dead last in Outs Above Average, which is a StatCast metric. He has made 3% fewer plays than average, according to those numbers. The best center fielder in the game this season, the Athletics’ Denzel Clarke, is 7% above average.
MOORE UPDATE
Second baseman Christian Moore did his most extensive workout since going on the injured list with a sprained thumb four weeks ago.
Moore took ground balls and threw, and he said it all felt normal. He had a brace protecting his left thumb in his glove during the drills.
Moore said he was planning to take about 50 swings in the cage against overhand throws just before the start of the game. Previously he’d only hit off a tee or soft toss.
Moore also went through some strength tests, which he said were “pretty much normal now … It feels pretty good.”
How Moore fares in a few days of workouts this week will determine when he begins a rehab assignment. Because Moore has only been out a month, he should not need a long rehab assignment.
Moore said he’s “very antsy. It’s hard to sit out and watch games when I definitely want to be a part of that and definitely contribute to that, and help these guys pushing forward.”
NOTES
Third baseman Yoán Moncada, who was hit in the hand by a pitch on Saturday, was out of the lineup for a second straight day. Moncada went through a full workout, including batting practice on the field, before the Angels finally decided on a lineup. Moncada is also not likely to start on Tuesday because the Texas Rangers are starting a lefty, and Moncada’s previous knee injury has hindered his right-handed swing. …
The Angels optioned right-hander José Fermin to open a roster spot for right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, who was promoted from Triple-A to rejoin the rotation. Fermin, 23, had a 6.23 ERA in 23 games. His ERA was 2.81 after his first 17 games, with 20 strikeouts in 16 innings. In his last six games he gave up nine earned runs in three innings, with seven walks.
UP NEXT
Rangers (LHP Patrick Corbin, 6-7, 3.78 ERA) at Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 4-7, 3.23 ERA), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM