Jo Adell has had, at best, a patchy record since making his major league debut in 2020. His greatest bWAR in his erratic six-year tenure with the Angels came last season, and even with a.207/.280/.402/.682 slash line, it was still below -1. With a.194/.230/.370/.600 line, 29.2% K%, 3.5% BB%, and 65 wRC+, Adell has the second-worst fWAR on the club and has been given an extended tryout as the Angels’ centerfielder after Mike Trout.
The Angels placed Mike Trout on the 10-day disabled list almost 10 days ago, and he is still without a set schedule to return. Taylor Ward is already a lineup staple, while Kyren Paris and Jorge Soler are getting extra run in the outfield while Trout is missing. Last but not least, the Angels brought up one of their top prospects who is currently eating into Adell’s playing time and making the most of it. The way things are going, the Angels may have to make a difficult choice about Adell once Trout gets back.
Move over Jo Adell, the Angels might have their new 5-man outfield rotation
Jo Adell faced the formidable Felix Bautista in a landslide defeat after Ron Washington pinch-hit Matthew Lugo for Jo Adell in the Angels’ series finale against the Orioles. Lugo got his barrel out and pulled an inside heater over the left field wall to hit a single home run off a fastball that was in the upper 90s. The previous game, Lugo, Carlos Beltrán’s nephew, smacked a triple off the centerfield wall for his first major league hit. In what may be a sneak peek into the priorities of the Angels’ evaluators, Lugo is starting in left field and Adell is going to the bench for the team’s series opener against the Padres.
Given that Adell has no options left and the Angels may like to keep the asset, it would make more sense to option Lugo back to Triple-A when Trout is reinstated off the injured list. Ideally, they could trade Adell and bring back a troubled player from another team instead of losing the former first-round pick through the waiver wire (see: Ian Anderson for José Suarez transaction). In either case, Lugo may easily surpass Adell in 2025 and beyond, while Adell only appears to be a replacement-level talent with the Angels.
But there is undoubtedly a situation in which the Angels see Lugo as a guaranteed big league player going ahead and Adell as a sunk investment. The Angels could utilize Trout in right the rest of the way, Ward in left, and Paris and Lugo in center (with Paris also playing second base). It may be time to let Lugo play for a longer period of time with the major league squad and say goodbye to Adell.
