Jo Adell getting his extra-base hits and an update on Ben Joyce

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Offense has been hard to come by for the Angels as of late, but one bright spot in the lineup has been right fielder Jo Adell. 

Coming off a career year that saw him hit 37 home runs, Adell’s start to this season was interesting because he was getting hits, but not tapping into the power that he’s known to possess. 

Through his first 38 games, Adell hit .258, but he had only six extra-base hits for a lowly .351 slugging percentage. 

“It was pretty bad weather for hitting early on, especially when he went to Chicago, but that's when he probably felt his worst and he was still surviving and getting some line drive singles,” Angels hitting coach Brady Anderson said. “That sort of is the hallmark of hitters who have a lot of success in the league, is they know how to get through their rough times without being shut out, and that's what he was able to do.”

Adell’s strikeout rate in that span was 22.4%, which is about league average and well below his career average. So he was putting more balls in play than he normally does, but the quality of contact was missing. 

“Just trying to stay over the ball a little bit more,” Adell said. “In weeks prior, I think I've been pulling off the ball a little bit, which is causing me to kind of just really mishit some of those pitches, and really outer half pitches that I've been pulling that have been not hit very well, versus like the other night against the Dodgers when I went backside on that double. That was more kind of the way that I'm used to hitting the ball, is all parts of the field with good exit (velocities). So I think we just got in the cage and worked on staying over the ball a little bit more, and knowing there's going to be outer lane attack for me and just be able to get more barrel there.”

From adjusting to staying over the ball, Adell has more than doubled his hard hit rate from 30.2% in his first 38 games to 65.2% over his last 10 games. In these past 10 games, Adell has hit six extra-base hits as well to double his season total with four doubles and a pair of home runs.

Adell has also drawn more walks as a result, drawing just four walks in his first 38 games and drawing three in his last 10 games. 

“Typically, people are pulling off the ball because they feel like they're late and so when they're late on the heater, they're pulling off, trying to catch up is a typical move,” Anderson said. “That leaves you susceptible to the sliders low and away. So that's the never-ending battle, being on time so you don't have to pull off so you can recognize all pitches in the zone.

“That's something that when you see a lot of hitters. If they're landing their first move as the right-hander is left. That becomes problematic. You have to be very disciplined with your upper body if that’s the case. That's what he means by that, staying a little more square, making sure that when he lands, and that also improves pitch recognition. A lot of times you're swinging at a lot of bad pitches, well, he doesn't know they're bad, he's not in a position to see the ball.”

Despite keeping his batting average just about the same, Adell has raised his slugging percentage by 37 points and his OPS by 42 points over his last 10 games. And if the Angels' offense wants to turn things around, Adell will have to keep up the quality of his contact. 

“We're definitely always on the same page of just trying to get to a spot to where anywhere in the strike zone that I'm ready to pull off a swing, no matter what the count is, and just being aggressive in those swings and we can live with the rest,” Adell said of his work with Anderson. “So really kept it simple, and that's kind of what we're shooting for is just at any point in time during the AB, I'm going to recognize who I am, but be ready to attack any pitch in the strike zone and put off my swing.”

Ben Joyce Update

Ahead of the Angels’ Tuesday night matchup against the Athletics, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said right-hander Ben Joyce is now at the team’s complex in Arizona doing more rehabbing on his shoulder.

Joyce had surgery on his shoulder to repair his labrum last May, but paused his rehab assignment after feeling soreness in his shoulder last week.

Suzuki said he’s in Arizona to “take a step back” and build up strength before resuming his rehab assignment. Suzuki also said he’s unsure if Joyce has been playing catch since getting to Arizona.