Jo Adell’s Power Might Be Right Around the Corner
May 27, 2026 - Written by Cade Lalim
Jo Adell and the @Angels are rolling in Anaheim! pic.twitter.com/GkRgM1d0Ok
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2026
After years of prospect hype, Jo Adell finally had his much-awaited breakout season last year. In his age-26 season, Adell powered 37 home runs with a .778 OPS over 152 games. His career high in homers last year ranked ninth amongst the majors.
Adell has played in 54 games so far in 2026 and has posted a .246/.295/.382 slash line to go along with seven home runs. His batting average and on-base percentage are up from last season but his .382 slugging percentage is down from .485 last year which was his career high.
He has been a better contact hitter this year but that has come with less power. His expected batting average is up from last season currently sitting at a .271 mark but his expected slugging rate has taken a dramatic fall. Where he ranked in the 97th percentile last season with a .549 expected slugging percentage, it has dropped to .455 in 2026.
It’s not like he’s not hitting the ball any softer though as his 91.5 mph average exit velocity on batted-balls is only down 0.2 from 2025. While Adell has basically maintained his exit velocity from last season, both his barrel and hard-hit rates have regressed.
Looking back at last season, Adell tore the cover off the baseball. He barreled up 17.3% of batted-balls while maintaining a 50% hard-hit rate. This year he’s not even barreling up half the balls he did last season, hence his 8.3% clip. His hard-hit clip has fallen 46.5% but that’s not as drastic as his barrel rate.
In terms of where he wants to hit the ball, Adell’s plan at the plate hasn’t really changed. Adell used to pull a ton, but since last year he has been using all parts of the field more. Between his pull, straight, and opposite percentages, nothing has changed at all from 2025.
Don’t forget that Adell’s seven home runs and 28 runs batted in is the same exact amount he had through the month of May last season. June is when he really exploded as when he hit 11 home runs while hitting for a .293 average to go along with a 1.038 OPS. He still has a couple more days left in May to improve from last year and add to his home run and RBI totals.
For an Angels team that has struggled with contact and relied heavily on home runs for scoring runs, this new look Adell has certainly helped. His 28 RBIs rank second on the team only trailing Jorge Soler who has 30. Among qualified Angel hitters, his .246 batting average ranks second, sitting behind Nolan Schanuel’s .262 mark.
While his current offensive trend could continue throughout the entire season, he could be due for a big month to boost his offensive numbers. Even with his current trend, Adell is on pace to hit around 21 home runs which is still a good place to be. This Angels club needs more contact hitting so it could end up being a good thing.
The Angels currently rank 28th in batting average (.225) and 23rd in on-base percentage (.311). They recently shook up the active roster sending Josh Lowe to AAA while placing Yoan Moncada on the injured list. Both players were struggling to make contact and get on base. They were replaced by Wade Meckler and Donovan Walton who were putting up good contact numbers in the minors. The Angels have since gone 3-0 with a sweep of the Texas Rangers since they were called up.
Don’t forget that Mike Trout has played in 53 of the Angels 54 games thus far and is having his best power season within the last couple of years. His production could pad the weakened extra-base production from Adell if he continues with his contact first approach.
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