Jo Adell hammered a game-tying three-run home run that left his bat at 113.6 mph, traveling 514 feet for the longest homer in both the Majors and Minors this season. Not to mention, it’s the longest homer ever tracked by Statcast.
“I happened to get a pitch that was over the plate, and I put probably one of my best swings ever on it,” Adell said.
The 24-year-old’s latest feat with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees as one of the hottest hitters in the Minors has Angels fans clamoring for an answer to the question: Why is he still in Triple-A?
The Angels are second in the American League West with a 41-34 record and five games behind the first-place Texas Rangers.
The primary outfielder is slashing .284/.367/.593 while leading the Minors in homers (20) and seventh in RBI (50). In his lone game with the Angels this season, Adell helped secure a sweep of the Cubs with a 451-foot homer while going 1-for-3 with a walk in the 3-1 victory.
It was the hardest-hit ball by any Angels player this season and is tied for the second-hardest hit homer by a Halos player since Statcast was introduced in 2015, behind only a 118-mph blast hit by Shohei Ohtani.
Sixty-one games into the 2023 Minor League season, Adell has surpassed nearly all his marks from the 40 games he played with the Bees in 2022. He’s two doubles shy from matching, and he hasn’t recorded a triple yet this season and didn’t register one in ’22.
Adell played 88 games with the Angels in 2022, collecting a .224 average with eight homers and 17 RBI. The 10th overall selection in the 2017 Draft has torn up the Minors nearly every year he’s been there. Adell has ended a season batting below .280 just once in the Minors when he batted .239 with the Bees last season.
After last year’s lackluster campaign, Adell started the ’23 season with the Bees, hoping to revitalize his powerful swing. The outfielder got the message loud and clear, belting seven homers over the team’s first nine games.
On his 24th birthday, Adell launched his fifth homer in consecutive games, tying the franchise record, but he wasn’t satisfied as the next day, he homered for the sixth straight game to place his name atop the franchise record books. It’s worth mentioning that he homered twice in his historic game for his 11th multihomer performance in his Minor League career before notching his 12th multihomer game on May 21.
The last Minor League player to top a six-game homer streak was Justin Foscue, who went yard in eight straight games in July 2021, the first for the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rangers and the final seven for the High-A Hickory Crawdads.
The high-level production has come from Adell changing his mindset and concentrating on the gift of playing the game rather than the jersey he has on. So although there’s no telling when he’ll be in Anaheim next, Adell’s focus is on showcasing his abilities and staying ready for when he gets the call.
“I’m seeing a lot of improvements everywhere, with all of our guys at the plate,” Adell said. “The ability to go out and be who you are. I think we talk a little too much about what the body’s doing and not enough about what you’re thinking.
“I think the transition of having the mindset of wanting to win the game, regardless of where I was, if I can stay in that mind frame the moment doesn’t get too big, and the ups and downs ride that wave.”
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