Angels News: Jo Adell 'Expects to Make the Team' This Year

Angels outfielder and former top prospect Jo Adell has struggled in the big leagues so far, but he comes into spring expecting to play well and make the team.

Angels outfielder Jo Adell was a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball heading into 2020, with Baseball Prospectus ranking him number two and Baseball America putting him third. He debuted that year during the pandemic-shortened season, and, well, it wasn't great. Adell batted .161 with a .478 OPS (30 OPS+) in 132 plate appearances.

Things got better after that, but mostly just because how could they get worse? Between 2021 and 2022, Adell has posted an OPS+ of 82 in 425 plate appearances, a far cry from the guy who posted an .896 OPS in parts of five minor-league seasons. Even in 2021-22, Adell raked in Triple-A but couldn't get things going in the big leagues.

Still, Adell comes into 2023 spring training with a chance to make the big-league team again. The Angels added Hunter Renfroe in the offseason, so there's a little less room in the outfield, but if Adell can turn his raw talent into MLB performance, he's the kind of guy you make room for. And he expects to make the team, as he told the media this week.

"At the end of the day, I show up every year and I expect to make the team. I showed up last year in camp expecting to make it. This year is no different. We definitely have good players in camp. That’s what you expect. If you compete on a team that’s wanting to compete at a high level and get to the postseason, there are going to be good players out there. So now my goal is to continue to compete and, hopefully, at the end of camp, the best players are going to make the team and hopefully I’m one of them. ...

"Right now my goal is to come out, be ready every day at 7:30 in the morning and try to make the team and show that I’ve got what it takes to be a part of this squad. It’s going to be a good team. This team is going to play well this year. I want to be a part of that. I want to get to the postseason and I want to win. These are my goals. We’ll continue to work through spring training and see what happens."

The Halos added depth this offseason and hope to get full, healthy seasons from Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, among others. But a huge boost for the team would be if Adell could turn into the big leaguer everyone thought he was going to be just a few years ago.