Angels' Jo Adell is One of MLB's Hardest Swingers: 'I'm Not Getting Cheated On It'

Angels outfielder Jo Adell is enjoying a breakout season, and his elite bat speed is playing a vital part of his success.

May 11, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell (7) hits one of his seven home runs this season. | Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday, Major League Baseball debuted the newest tool in its growing suite of advanced metrics under the "Statcast" brand: bat tracking leaders. In its crudest form, the visual tool allows users to quickly ascertain who's squaring up the baseball, who's swinging hard, who's doing both things, and who's doing neither.

To the surprise of few, Angels outfielder Jo Adell is swinging hard — really hard.

Through Tuesday, Adell's average bat speed of 76.4 mph is eighth among all qualified MLB hitters, and he moves up to seventh when ranking hitters by how often they swing harder than 75 mph.

I asked Jo Adell today if he had seen the new Statcast bat tracking metrics that show he has one of the fastest swings of any player.

Here’s what he had to say. https://t.co/FESfg8LbUE pic.twitter.com/nnAf51PvKq

— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) May 13, 2024

To Adell's point, swinging hard isn't a sure measure of success. Several of the hardest hitters in baseball haven't even hit well enough to hold onto a major league roster spot every day this season. Others, like Giancarlo Stanton — baseball's hardest swinger by far — are so dependent on home runs that they might struggle to maintain their place in the lineup during a slump. Stanton's slugging percentage of .471 is good, not elite, and his OBP of .287 is below par.

While the data places Adell's bat speed among established stars such as Aaron Judge (76.6 mph) and Juan Soto (76.1), it also shows where Adell has room to improve. His rate of squaring up the ball (19.3 percent) puts him in the company of non-stars like Martin Maldonado and Jack Suwinski.

Adell is on pace for a career year. Through Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he's hitting .248 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs. His 125 OPS+ makes him a more than viable presence in the everyday lineup, and his seven stolen bases rank second on the team.

If the Angels decide to sell at the trade deadline, Adell's bat speed could be an attractive selling point for contending teams who believe they can get him to square up the ball more. The thought of Adell having trade value of any kind ought to be a welcome one for the Angels' front office after seeing the 25-year-old struggle to translate his prospect status into major league success.

In the meantime fans can enjoy Adell's breakout season, fueled by breathtaking bat speed.