Angels News: Jo Adell Reveals What's Working For Him Amid Resurgent Streak Offensively

The Angels outfielder is on a hot run of late.

Jo Adell's been on fire lately.

Yes, it's a small sample size, but for the Angels outfielder that's been the Halos top prospect since he was first drafted in 2017, a 2-for-8 run with two RBI at the plate is a good sign for the 23-year-old that hasn't yet been able to parlay his great hitting in Triple-A into regular playing time at the big league level.

Adell's role is about to become larger with superstar centerfielder Mike Trout on the injured list, and for the former first-round pick, a simpler mentality in the box has been key behind his recent stretch.

“When you get into two-strike counts, or down in the count or whatever it is, what I found out is if I try to over-shorten my approach, what I end up doing is I end up expanding the zone,” Adell said. “So it’s important for me to stay as aggressive as I would 0-0 in two strikes and still look for those pitches that I can drive.”

Adell added that he wants to “treat 0-2 like it’s 2-0, still looking for a pitch to handle. Obviously, you’re going to have to hit some pitches and foul off some pitches you don’t want to, but I’m still looking for a pitch I could do damage on.” (via

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register

)

Having an aggressive mentality down in the count seems like it'd be the wrong approach for Adell to take, but for the outfielder with prodigious power, going against conventional wisdom is working for him as he gets a golden opportunity with Trout's absence.

Getting chances to play for the Angels have been few and far between for Adell, as he's only played a total of 164 major league games in his career across four seasons, compared to 409 in the minors.

Now he'll have his long-awaited extended opportunity to show what he can do at the MLB level with Trout on the shelf for at least a month, and Adell will look to take full advantage of it.

And if he can turn this "tryout period" into a successful run, he may just find himself plying his trade for the Angels on a full-time basis.