New-look Adell making strides after adjusting swing

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

WASHINGTON -- At the beginning of May, it looked like Jo Adell had it figured out at the plate.

The right fielder was slashing .316/.365/.614 through his first 23 games of the season, showing both power and patience while cutting down on his strikeouts. But then came a three-month slump that saw him slash .162/.241/.328 over his next 73 games, as his contact issues resurfaced.

So Adell made a major change at the plate against the Rockies on July 30, ditching his leg kick in an attempt to cut down on his strikeout rate and put the ball in play more often. It’s worked so far, as he’s hitting .286/.388/.476 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs in 12 games since. He looks much like he did early in the year and he's struck out just nine times in 49 plate appearances over that stretch after having previously struck out in 29% of his plate appearances.

“The no leg kick, at times it takes some getting used to, but my contact rate has gone through the roof,” Adell said. “I've been really able to make a lot more contact, and that's something where it's not always about the big fly. We've talked about this before, but being able to put the ball in play hard [going] forward should be my goal every time -- and I think it's given me a better chance to do that.”

Adell, 25, added that he doesn’t believe the change will have a negative impact on his power, and so far, the results have shown that. He hit a two-run homer on Friday into the bullpen in left-center field at Nationals Park that went a Statcast-projected 431 feet. And he has four extra-base hits since making the change.

“I think power is one of those things that I naturally can generate,” Adell said. “I don't think I really have to create it. It's going to give me a chance to be simpler and kind of get to the ball a little bit better -- and especially facing good fastballs and situations with runners on. [It] gives me a better chance to put those balls in play and do more damage.”

Angels manager Ron Washington said he’s pleased that Adell decided to make the change after working with hitting coaches Johnny Washington and Tim Laker. Adell has made tremendous strides defensively this season and has been making better decisions on the bases recently after running into too many outs early in the year. Getting his offense on track would further help Adell become a more complete player.

With Adell's power, he doesn’t need to hit for too high of an average, but hitting below .200 isn’t going to cut it no matter how many homers he hits. He's batting .204 with 17 homers, 11 doubles and 53 RBIs in 108 games in his first full season in the Majors. But his average dipped as low as .180 on July 11 before he picked things up.

“His at-bats have been better ever since he stopped that leg kick,” Washington said. “I hope he found something that he can hold on to moving forward in his career, because if he does, he's going to be the player that we always thought he could be.”

Washington said he likes the fact that Adell is willing to be coached, as evidenced by the improvements he’s made this year and his ability to change his mechanics at the plate. He also said he wished Adell would’ve tried this earlier, but he knows it’s tough for players to make sweeping changes during the season.

“He's seeing the ball a lot better,” Washington said. “He's not chasing as much with the slider and he's getting a good swing off on a fastball. So all that means is that he's seeing the ball in his time, and it's better. I wish we could have convinced him to do that earlier, but he's a stubborn kid, and he finally found out that this is the best way to go -- and this is where he's going. And I just hope he continues through the rest of the year.”