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BOSTON – Before Angels fell, 4-0, al Red Sox On Tuesday, outfielder Jo Adell disembarked from the team’s plane at Logan Airport. Some staff members unpacked his uniform at the visiting clubhouse in Fenway Park. Adell addressed the media in front of his locker. He practiced batting on the pitch, throwing half a dozen balls into the stands. He signed autographs for some guys who called his name after him.
In any case, he looked like a great Northern League player. The only indication that Adell is, for now, a minor League player, came just before the game started, when he changed his street clothes and left the baseball field. He will fly commercial on Wednesday to join the Triple A Salt Lake Bees.
“He has a good attitude about it,” said the central winger Mike Trout. “It’s tough, but she knows what she has to do to get back up here.”
23-year-old Adell has been among the Angels’ top prospects since the team picked him up with their tenth pick of the 2017 draft. Within two years, he was one of the game’s future stars. But since his debut during the shortened season of ’20 COVID-20, he has struggled on both sides of the ball. This year, he hit .231 with 24 strikeouts and a walk in 66 pot appearances, and Statcast rates his defense as the second-worst winger for above average outs (-4).
Jo Adell was sent back to minors on Tuesday after another slow start at the major league level.
Chris Bernacchi / Getty Images
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But Adell didn’t play as much on his own off the roster as two of his teammates played each other. Trout may be the best player the game has ever seen. Adell, Brandon Marsh and Taylor Ward opened the season expecting to rotate through corner points. Then Marsh hit .267 in a brutal offensive environment with a solid defense, and Ward set the world on fire: the 28-year-old is just a few steps away from qualifying for the league rankings, but among those with at least 70 flat appearances, he’s in first place. place for batting average (.390), base percentage (.493), hit percentage (.746) and OPS (1.239).
In a different year, perhaps Los Angeles could have let Adell learn the job at the expense of two players with better current stats but lower ceilings. But with a score of 15–10, the Angels lead the American League West, the first time they do so at the dawn of May in Trout’s career. Their first month increased their playoff odds by 21 percentage points, to 66%. The trout is 30 years old. Two way star Shohei Ohtani he can be a free agent after next season. The Halos window is open and they are looking through it.
So, on Tuesday afternoon, Adell was summoned to manager Joe Maddon’s office. Inside were Maddon, general manager Perry Minasian and assistant coach John Mallee. The front office had begun discussing the possibility on Sunday evening, Minasian later said, and only made the decision official on Monday morning.
“The way the other three played ensured they were playing every single day,” Minasian said. “So I think from the team’s point of view it was the right thing to do. Ward is playing as if he were playing. Marsh is playing as if he were playing. Of course Mike will play. Those guys’ names will be on the lineup for the most part. Being a young player and not having constant playing time is really, really difficult. “
Adell will get consistent playing time at Triple A. Even on one of the toughest days of his career, Adell never looked flustered. He didn’t see relegation coming, but he understood it.
“I’m not thrilled with it,” he said. “I mean, I’m not going to organize a parade to be sent down, but I’ll do my best to get back. … I’m not going to put my head down. I have enough faith in my game and what I am able to know at some point, my time will come when I can be out here every day and help these guys. And so I hope I can go back and take myself to where the standards are for this club and these guys and be able to come back and help. “
Over the next few days, his coaches will work with him on the specifics of his attacking approach and the complexities of defense. But on Tuesday Trout got another message. As soon as he heard that Adell had been sent down, the star found the boy. “Hey,” Trout said. “See you soon.”
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