Jo Adell was removed during the second inning today’s game after the Angels outfielder collided with the wall in search of a fly ball. The move was made for precautionary reasons, as Adell said he “felt something” after the crash, manager Joe Maddon told the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters. Team trainers didn’t find anything in the way of a hyper-extension after examining Adell, so the youngster may have escaped any real harm.
Considered one of the game’s top prospects prior to his MLB debut last season, Adell is a big part of the Halos’ future outfield plans, along with fellow up-and-comer Brandon Marsh. A lingering shoulder injury from last season has kept Marsh from any outfield action this spring, though he is expected to be back on the grass next week and Marsh tells MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger that he believes he’ll be ready for the start of the season. Adell and Marsh will both likely begin the season at the Angels’ alternate training site and then with their Triple-A team, before factoring into the Major League roster at some point during the year.
More from the AL West…
- Chris Flexen was one of a relative few free agent pitchers to sign a multi-year deal this winter, inking a two-year contract (plus 2023 club option) with the Mariners that will pay the right-hander at least $4.75MM in guaranteed money. Tom O’Connell, Flexen’s agent, tells The Athletic’s Corey Brock that Seattle was one of “four or five teams very interested in Chris,” and the Mariners sealed the deal after Flexen was impressed by GM Jerry Dipoto’s pitch of the organization’s merits during a Zoom call. The M’s had done their homework on Flexen in the KBO, as assistant GM Justin Hollander said that during the league shutdown, the Mariners had extra scouts breaking down film of games from Korea and Japan — both to give the scouting staff some work, and also to hunt for any potential hidden-gem offseason targets. Clearly Seattle liked what it saw in Flexen, who had only an 8.07 ERA over 68 career MLB innings with the Mets from 2017-19 but excelled with a 3.01 ERA and 28K% over 116 2/3 innings as a starter with the KBO’s Doosan Bears in 2020.
- The Athletics are giving Pete Kozma a long look in Spring Training, as the veteran infielder has thus far played in all of Oakland’s spring games, MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos writes. Kozma is trying to make his way back to the majors for the first time since 2018, and while Kozma has long been known as a glove-first player, he has been on fire at the plate in the Cactus League. The A’s already have Chad Pinder and Tony Kemp slated for both second-base duty and as utilitymen, though Kozma is making a case for himself for a bench job. It probably doesn’t hurt Kozma’s chances that Jed Lowrie (also in camp on a minors deal, and a veteran with a much longer MLB track record) has only just returned to game action as Lowrie tries to return from the leg injuries that have plagued his last two seasons.
DarkSide830
is there a good site anyone uses to see general injury news? MLB.com’s new setup for its injury page sucks.
Doug Dascenzo
I know of a good one, but I’ll only tell you if you promise not to comment 6 times on every article like you do on this site. Deal?
DarkSide830
no
ABCD
Dascenzo may have been a major leaguer but his feet won’t touch the ground as he sits down to type.
uvmfiji
Those mid-80s Pittsfield Cubs teams were boss
Dumpster Divin Theo
Mayb
cubs2016
Wtf are you talking about? His comments are the most sensible of many that comment on here. Get outta her with that bs.
sergefunction
That’s what her father said.
cubs2016
Here*
MLBTR Commenter
Nice burner, Darkside
bravesfan88
CBS sports has a pretty good sortable running injury updated listing…
Maybe it is better than the one you were using, I’m not sure, but I would say it is definitely worth a look..
SalaryCapMyth
cbssports.com/mlb/injuries/
Bravesfan beat me to it but here is a link. This is the site I use when. I need this info.
DarkSide830
okay, good to know. ive looked at it a few times in the past just wasnt sure how accurate it was. thanks.
Get Off My Mound
Jed Lowrie will play in 100+ games this season. Lol.
A'sfaninUK
He will play 130+ games at 2B and have a 4 WAR out of absolutely nowhere, just to spite Mets fans haha.
Get Off My Mound
LOL Yes. This. Would be absolutely poetic.
Gothamcityriddler
Riddler’s Rumors coming soon
DarkSide830
should we expect them to be encoded?
Dumpster Divin Theo
Somebody stop you
paulslc
‘In search of a fly ball’ = sly slam. Po Jo.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Saw it on the telecast. Ugly approach and collision. Still has a lot to learn before he starts rolling in the deep
Luc (Soto 3rd best in the game)
Prayers up for Bayron Lora
Dumpster Divin Theo
At least Bayern Munching won today
ayrbhoy
The Dodgers of the Bundesliga? They should considering how much they spend compared to most of the teams below them. I wish more teams could compete for 1st place in German football but the sad truth is- just as in Spain, the same couple rich clubs dominate their domestic competition yr in yr out.
Although Man City spend a fortune and are the best team in the PL the race for all the European spots in 2nd – 6th place is tighter than ever! Anyone within 9th-10th place could qualify for Europe this yr. Makes for good viewing
Dumpster Divin Theo
Jawohl
Loling @ you
Adell is a bust.
DarkSide830
I wouldnt put much stock i. last year. certainly a bit concerning, but he was basically left high and dry with no AAA seasoning to be had.
Luc (Soto 3rd best in the game)
LMAO, less than 60 and you call him a bust. What a clown, not every rookie burst on to the scene. If Torkleson goes 0-4 in his debut you gonna call him a bust?
prov356
Luc. You’re part of the problem. It’s ok to have an opinion that is different than yours. That doesn’t make someone a clown.
bkbkbkbk
The irony of you not liking his opinion that Tak is a clown and you saying that he should have that opinion is strong young Jedi.
Halo11Fan
Anyone who writes on a board that a 21 year old player is a bust is a clown. Not all opinions are created equal. My opinion is valid, his makes him a clown.
Loling @ you
@halo11fan sorry your team sux. Dudes minors numbers are rather pedestrian as well those strike out totals are pretty bad even for aa/aaa. Willing to bet I’m right and your wrong at the end of the day, marsh will be a better player than adell too.
Loling @ you
To be clear not only was adell lost at plate he seemed to not know how to play outfield (his natural position) as well. He actually produced a negative war which is fairly hard to do, again sorry for your salt though. Really hoping angels can get it right!
Halo11Fan
You’re a clown, Write any dumb thing you like.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Honk
Dumpster Divin Theo
Ironically. Tak is Luc’s daddy. On this one, and in life.
darkstar61
Can you list 5 guys who had a OPS+ under 40 in their first season, who then went on to have good, long careers after?
Adell had a 31 OPS+ so I’m throwing you a bone allowing you to go up to 40
Hopefully for his sake, the Angels wake up and send him down to AAA for at minimum 1 full season, maybe 2. They need to see if they can reset this because as it stands, history tells us bust is the most likely outcome
Pads Fans
Can you list 5 guys that had an OPS+ under 50 in their first 40 games and went on to have a good, long career?
I found 371. on Baseball Reference that put up a career WAR of more than 15.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Happy or sad clown?
GetUpBaby
There was another player that had a single hit in his first 27 PA. He turned out fairly decent. His name was Willie Mays.
darkstar61
After 131 PA in his 1st season, Mays was batting .310/.400/.575/.975
Adell had 132 PA and posted a .161/.212/.266/.478 line
Adell is literally nothing like Mays
Dumpster Divin Theo
Or like Willie Mayes. Hayes
Dumpster Divin Theo
So every batter that starts out like that could be Willie Mays. Or Steve Jeltz.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Adell will be a bust. In the Hall of Fame!! Amirite
pinstripes17
@Tatsumaki You’re a clown
Dumpster Divin Theo
Someone wanna diagram all the fire on this one. Got lost figuring out who’s clowning who
bigdaddyhacks
Kyle Lewis agrees.
Very Barry
The Angels should give up on the Jo Adell experiment and cut ranks while he still has some good trade value. If you call this guy up and he has a similar performance like last year and his trade value will take a major hit. You gotta deal this guy while he is back in the minors. Call up the Cubs and offer Adell in a package for Kyle Hendrix that doesn’t include Brandon Marsh. Wait on the Phillies to finish last in the NL East and the fire sale will then begin. Nola? Wheeler? Some good value will be on the market once teams fall out of contention.
Loling @ you
1000 percent yes
bkbkbkbk
This is an all time bad take. He hasn’t even had a full seasons he essentially had partial seasons in AAA and he’s younger than even Tatis. Hell, he’s BARELY older than Wander Franco. Chill on the burying him.
DarkSide830
yeah you keep waiting on Nola and Wheeler to be available troll.
SoCalADRL
I’ve yet to see any of Jo Adell’s potential. I understand last year was weird but he was beyond awful and he’s been a very similar player so far this spring. Maybe one days he’ll come close to reaching that potential people keep saying he has but I think it’s at least 2-3 years away.
Halo11Fan
You have yet to see his potential? You can count on one hand the number of players whose maximum exit velocity matched Adell”s velocity. And he did it at age 21. Being not sold on him is one thing, I get it. But people writing him off are nuts, and people not seeing what he has a chance to become are nuts.
It doesn’t mean he will, but he’s immensely talented.
SoCalADRL
You’re absolutely right, his exit velocity is good. But that’s about it at this point. I understand he’s young and still very raw but his contact rate hasn’t improved at all. Way too many swing and misses. Very long swing. His glove is still horrendous. I except someone with that much potential to at least play good if not great defense at young age and wait for the bat to catch up to the glove but that’s not the case with him. Like I said, he’s 2-3 years away from contributing at this point. I’m not sold on him as anything more than a high risk high reward prospect.
Halo11Fan
M.M. I have no problem with that position, but he’s very young.
And almost all 21 year old players are high risk, few are big rewards.
Bartolo’s 2nd family
I understand waiting on his hitting, but he’s the worst defensive outfielder I’ve seen at the Major League level. There are high schoolers that have better reads and spatial awareness than him. Needs a lot of work out there.
Halo11Fan
He looks really bad in the outfield.
How hard is LF. Are there a lot of of good LFs in baseball?
He’s also extremely coachable. He’s a good kid. Don’t underestimate the value value of being coachable and a good kid. Add that to tremendous talent… I like his odds.
If others don’t, that’s fine. But people who call him a bust at 21 are clowns.
Lurking
There aren’t many good defensive left fielders because teams use them at more valuable positions. Cmon
The fact he’s so bad no matter where he plays doesn’t scream “he just needs a little seasoning then he’s ready”
Dude looked raw. 30%+ K rates, horrible D, horrible batting line, simply ugly at bats. For the angels sake, he shouldn’t start above AAA. He posted a 600 OPS in AAA in 19, then had a 30 something OPS+ in 20. Average is 100!
He’s been screwed around by LAA already. Better hope he’s not too far broken. He’s been failing at baseball for the last year and a half. That’s really bad as a professional
Halo11Fan
A Twenty one year old who had to bypass AAA because of COVID looked bad, wow what a shocker. Do you people understand baseball?
Loling @ you
We do halo sadly you don’t. You must not know what the bust rate of first rounders is, for every Correa/bregman/trout theres matt bush, mark Appel, Brandon wood, Donovan tate. Something like 3/5 players from first round every year make it to become an everyday players. You were probably the same guy holding out hope for Brandon wood and Dallas McPherson only to watch them never pan out.
Halo11Fan
You are clueless. You don’t understand anything about it.
You’re comparing him to Brandon Wood and Dallas McPherson?
LOL.
Brandon Wood? At 23 Brandon Wood was in AAA for two years and was good, nothing special. I was mocked for saying Aybar was better. Adell isn’t Wood.
McPherson made the team and Amezega started over him in the playoffs. The same game Amezega who sacrificed in the same playoff series with one out. That told me everything I needed to know about what the Angels thought of McPherson.
However, after two years if Adell is ordinary at AAA, then you can start wondering if he’s a bust. But now it is laughable.
You should be laughable because you’re a clown. Clowns make people laugh.
candymaldonado
Sample sizes are funny like that. Adell’s 2019 OPS in Triple-A was 676, not “600,” and it was only 131PAs. Why does this matter? Because a lot of people forget he also had a game in AAA that year where he went 2-2 with 2HRs, but the box score was wiped from the records by rain before the 5th inning. If you had just those two ABs to his tiny sample in AAA, his OPS shoots up to .746 and none of us are here talking about how a 19 year old in AAA with a .746OPS is a bust.
1984wasntamanual
Dude has a huge contact issue and abysmal defense. He’s going to be 100% dependent on his bat to carry his value, so unless he takes some HUGE steps forward in that department, it’s gonna be tough for him to be a valuable MLB player.
If you want to wait on calling him a bust, that’s fine, he’s still young, but the contact issues have been apparent pretty much every where he’s been. In general, even high ranked prospects and especially ones with this kind of swing and miss problem, are more often than not, “busts”, but I guess it depends on what “bust” means in this discussion. I’d certainly lean more towards him being a 4th OF/pinch hitter/DH type of player vs. being a ML regular OF – is that him being a bust?
1984wasntamanual
a 746 OPS, in the PCL, for a guy who depends 100% on his bat to contribute value, is still bad. Even if he is 19.
candymaldonado
No, it’s not. Now you’re literally just inventing a new reality to continue your argument. The average AAA player is 25. A 19 year old’s first taste of it at .746 is good. At worst it’s “fine.” Calling it “bad” is just you admitting you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. You don’t have to double down on stupid.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Except Pennywise. Case where man’s laughter transitions to manslaughter. Amirite?
Halo11Fan
One hundred percent on his bat? Do people realize he’s very fast. VERY FAST?
He’s 21… Who knows what he can become. YOU PEOPLE ARE NUTS.
Marsh is 23, and will be in the same outfield as Adell opening day. Is he a bust as well?
1984wasntamanual
Do you realize his BSR was still -1.6? Just because you’re fast, that doesn’t make you a valuable baserunner.
Cool strawman on Marsh argument. I’ll allow you to continue to make any and every excuse you can to justify your feelings on Adell.
1984wasntamanual
How many people in AAA are older AAAA players that drive up that average age? Just looking at the average age of someone in that league while not controlling for players that have legitimate MLB contributor type projections, omits quite a bit of context.
Lurking
again Halo, I fully acknowledge covid changed things. But there’s no reason for leaving him to flounder in the majors all season. You have an alternative site, where he could be coached. How much learning do you think happens at the MLB level? You think he could hit in a cage 150 times in the cage to work on something and it not affect him in game?
You’re right. He’s young. He has time. But the angels have to handle him properly or his age becomes a negative, not a positive. He hasn’t really changed his approach since the PCL. He hasn’t had any success against even AAAA quality breaking balls.
One last thing, to the person quoting AAA average ages, if you’re above 24/25, and not a college draftee or someone with a horrible injury, and you’re still in AAA, you’re probably a bust.
The pcl has 3 maybe 4 parks that are Coors-level for offense. A 670 ops there?? Heck even 750… That’s still horrendous. Especially when you’re an offensive oriented prospect. He needs serious work
candymaldonado
So now you’re tripling down on being wrong?
The point is that he is facing people who are largely stronger, more physically mature, and developed, with probably a dose of major league experience among a lot of them. And despite all that, in a very limited sample size, he put up AAA league average production his very first time there. Literally no one, other than your stubborn self, would ever use the word “bad” to describe that. Because it’s not bad.
Harper put up a .690OPS in his 19 year old AAA taste. Wander Franco hasn’t even been there yet. Ryan Howard didn’t even touch it until age 24. I can’t even imagine how deep a dig you could do on great major leaguers who never even touched AAA by that age. It’s very, very young to get there.
You flatly don’t know what you’re talking about. Period. That’s not my opinion. That’s the reality. A 19 year old went to Triple-A and put up league average offense in his first taste. There. Is. No. Universe. Where. That’s. Bad. Just stop. Christ.
candymaldonado
19 is incredibly young to be in AAA for the first time. That’s not my opinion, You can think Adell will be a bust without straight up lying about observable reality.
The AVERAGE age for a HITTER in the PCL was 26. That’s a fully grown, physically mature adult. And, again, that’s AVERAGE age. All sorts of 30 year olds popping in there who are busts, yes. All sorts of 28 year old journeymen on minor league contracts. But if you want an exact reference on this, he was LITERALLY THE THIRD YOUNGEST PERSON IN ALL OF THE PCL TO EVEN GET AN AT-BAT all year.
Call him a bust all you want, and clown yourself. But you don’t get to invent your own dumb reality to justify it.
candymaldonado
Third. Youngest. Hitter. In. The. Entire. PCL.
You’re just grasping at straws. Literally no one is stopping you from just backing off your poorly understood argument. Just say you think he’s a bust because your gut says so. Don’t invent an alternate reality in which 19 year old AAA players are growing on trees.
Pads Fans
You do realize that 38 games is such a small sample size that to make any judgement of talent on it is ludicrous?
Loling @ you
You do realize his underlying metrics even in minors predicted him to be what he was in majors last years. Too much swing and miss and can only hit fastballs in the pcl and still post mediocre numbers. If angels were smart they would trade him before he turns into jabari blash and offers zero value.
prov356
I’m not ready to give up on Adell until he has a full AAA season. He looks lost in the field and at the plate. But that can turn around with the right ramp up to the majors, which he was robbed of last year. I think the talent is there.
Lurking
My issue is, in his first PCL time, he had a 600 OPS. So the angels decided HES READY! And then let him flail around the next 2 months.
I get wanting to see if he could help the mlb team in 2020. I do. But after a month, did anyone think he was turning it around? I guess my point is there’s been a lot of failure for Adell since he was a top 5-10 prospect back in mid 2019
Halo11Fan
The Angels decided they should roll the dice with him because they got off to such a horrible start and very bad players were getting very important ABs.
Lurking
Halo. He put up a 30 OPS+. They were sub 500
F the season. Worry about your prospect who’s supposed to be a star. He saw nothing but failure in 2020. You really think that’s good for him, mentally? Cmon. Admit it. They made a bad call. Doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to fail. But it wasn’t the right call..
Pads Fans
Say it after me, 27 games in AAA. The Angels brought him up because with injuries they had no choice. Even they said that their preference was to keep him in the minors, but there was no minors. This season they are going to send him to the minors. They already said so.
Adell has 38 games in the major leagues. That is not even enough to worry about what he has done, let alone say “there’s been a lot of failure”. .
Sometimes when you have no clue about what is going on in a certain situation, its better to remain a lurker.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Only thing Adell gets with AAA are batteries. To the head. Good thing he’s not in Yankee park
mlb1225
I’m not going to sit here and say that Adell did awful last season, but this guy was generally seen as one of baseball’s top 5 prospects just a year ago. Sure prospects don’t always turn out, but he’s hit well in the minors and I wouldn’t be ready to give up on him so fast after less than 150 plate appearances in the majors.
A'sfaninUK
Imagine seeing 132 PA of Adell at age 21 in MLB and going “he looked bad he won’t ever amount to anything”. Just a total misunderstanding of the game at every angle. Shame on you.
whyhayzee
Mike Schmidt had 79 hits in his first 401 at bats. He struck out 151 times. The Phillies should have traded him.
thebaseballfanatic
That’s a pretty good comment. Props
Dumpster Divin Theo
Steve Jeltz says hi
bazbal
Cal Ripken, Jr. went 5 for 39 his first season, and had a .489 OPS after the first six weeks of the next season. I don’t remember: what ever became of him?
darkstar61
Those 79 hits were good enough for a 90 OPS+ for Mike Schmidt. That is just 10% lower than average for Schmidt
Adell was a 31
Yes, a 31 OPS+ for Adell
So Adell was 70% worse than the average player with the bat.
Those two players are not comparable in any possible way.
And it is honestly hard to find players who had as bad of a first season as Adell. That played more than a few season in the MLB after, especially. It’s historically horrendous, and does point towards bust being the most likely outcome. Even busts generally do much better than Adell showed.
bazbal
After his first 122 plate appearances (2 fewer than Adell), Cal Ripken’s career slash lines were .152/.172/.246, for an OPS of .418, in other words, 60 points worse than Adell’s OPS.
darkstar61
You’re trying to combine 2 very small sections of 2 different seasons to try to find a point now? And the first 40 PA from when he was just a defensive replacement player getting no real ABs?
How about we just take the first 131 PA of Ripken’s first actual year, 1982? He posted a horrible .242/.269/.395/.676 then
…but thats still about 200 ops points higher than Adell, and that 670 range ops would have been good for around an 80 range OPS+. So Ripken was about 20% less than average, Adell was 70% less
That also came off Cal hitting .288/.383/.535/.919 in AAA the year prior (Adell was nearly as pitiful there as he was in the MLB, putting up a sad .264/.321/.355/.676 in the Coors Field of the PCL)
It is honestly near impossible to find someone who was as horrifically bad as Adell in his first year and actually stayed in the league for any amount of time. Most had a few seasons of scattered play at max, then were forgotten. History says thats the path Adell is currently on
Halo11Fan
Adell was unprecedentedly bad during unprecedented times.
No one with a clue would read much into that. My opinion about Adell is pretty close to my opinion about the guy a year ago. Except LF instead of RF.
Some people are paying way too much attention to data obtained during unprecedented times.
Loling @ you
Halo he wasn’t good before pandemic either, which is what many of us are saying. High strike out totals, weak arm in outfield, a lot of errors too. All that showed up in majors last year, give adell 2/3 more years and he still won’t be able to cut down his k rate. Huge swing with a lot of swing and miss again he got pushed through because angels are so thin in almost all areas on the roster….
1984wasntamanual
The other part that is being totally ignored in these discussions…Mike Schmidt and Cal Ripken provided value on defense. Adell DOES NOT
1984wasntamanual
He was also a 2.5 fWAR player and had a wRC+ of 95. So…what’s your point?
Adell had a wRC+ of 29 and fWAR of -1.3
Dumpster Divin Theo
But but but those tools. Adell has tools. I think 3,4 maybe 5. Ripken was a tool.
Halo11Fan
TWENTY ONE. He sat out the first four months of his 21 year old season because of a pandemic.
Again, YOU PEOPLE ARE NUTS!!!!!
It’s impressive how many people come on a public board and openly prove they don’t know a thing about baseball.
Can we give him more than 300 ABs above AA before we write his obituary.
Learn something about baseball before you make fools of yourself on a public board.
1984wasntamanual
The irony of your post is delicious.
psarg
Say it with me: Adell and Marsh aren’t getting traded
Dumpster Divin Theo
Say it with me: Adell won’t be working at Best Buy in 3 years
Asfan0780
Giving Kozma an Extended shot but soured on Mateo, baretto, and neuse. A’s unwillingness to give certain prospects a chance is puzzling
Mrtwotone
It’s a bit strange to give Korma such a shot over younger players with upside potential.
jrbw
Maybe they could be trying to get back to the world series…. just a thought.
A'sfaninUK
Sheldon Neuse is absolutely the next Max Muncy. Has the identical toolbox and profile. Baffling they’d cut bait on him when he’s likely going to be a nice everyday 2B for someone soon – but especially losing him to the same team as they lost Muncy on.
Guess that lack of money the owners run the team on also applies to hiring competent front office and coaching staffs. Muncy and Wendle perfect examples of the coaching staff at the top level failing, because the Dodgers and Rays have obviously superior coaching staffs to Oaklands, due to more recent playoff success. Two guys that would have made Oakland an out and out force in the AL. Muncy at 2B/DH with Wendle subbing all over lineup instead of the black hole they A’s have had at 2B over the last few years is a huge fail by the Athletics front office, gotta say.
JerryBird
It’s probably about money and\or starting time for prospects, like not starting their MLB clock in a guaranteed losing season. Kozma historically hit well in spring while facing pitchers who won’t be there on opening day. I wouldn’t worry about him. Lowrie will likely get hurt any time now. He’s a wash.
californiaangels
how can someone be a top100 prospect and be so pitiful in the outfield lol.
Marsh>>>
A'sfaninUK
Hiding an injury from “playing through it” always has negative results.
stan lee the manly
Ooooooff, Pete Kozma. Good luck with that Oakland
WowClown
I love how the headline is “How the Mariners landed Chris Flexen” Like he is a Kershaw or something gonna slove all of our problems. What a joke! How about this, the guys passport was about to expire and he said Oh Shit! Gonna go back now!