Ward, Adell form slugging duo with historic season

ARLINGTON -- A day after Taylor Ward and Jo Adell became the first pair of teammates in the Majors to reach 30 homers this season, Ward became the first player in the big leagues to get to 30 homers and 30 doubles on Wednesday.

Ward doubled in the first inning to reach the mark and scored on an RBI double from Adell in a 20-3 loss to the Rangers in the series finale at Globe Life Field. Ward became the first Angels player with at least 30 homers and 30 doubles in a season since Shohei Ohtani in 2022.

Adell made it a point to learn from Ward’s routine this season, and the two have partnered up to bring plenty of production while playing nearly every day. Ward ranks first on the team with 131 games played and Adell is second with 126. They’re the first Angels teammates to have at least 30 homers in a season since Mike Trout and Ohtani did it in ’22.

“We bounce ideas back and forth about approach and drill work,” Ward said. “We're all different, so it varies. But facing pitchers, if it’s me facing them first, I’ll talk about what I see, and we’ll make adjustments. So it's just a good dynamic.”

Adell, 26, said he believes his breakout season has been aided by following the way the 31-year-old goes about his business. Adell hit 20 homers last year in 130 games, but has vastly improved on it this season.

“I’m kind of on his routine, on his schedule and we do what we need to do to get ready to play,” Adell said. “And I think our goal, more than anything, is just to be available. He's been a guy that's been dependable. And I wanted to kind of follow in those footsteps of just doing what I need to do, to show up every day and to be in this lineup. We’re kind of a tag-team this year, as far as workout partners and being on the field.”

Ward said he’s proud of the way Adell has grown, as they both are former first-rounders who took some time to develop. Ward was the No. 26 overall pick in 2015 but didn’t break out until ’22, while Adell was the No. 10 overall selection in ’17 and is finally starting to put things together. Ward is up to 94 RBIs this season, while Adell is at 82. The last time the Angels had two players with 100 RBIs was in 2016, when both Albert Pujols and Trout reached the mark.

“I think it’s really cool,” Ward said. “It shows all the hard work that we're both putting in night in and night out. So super happy for him and hoping he gets to 100 RBIs. Hopefully, we both get there and be the duo this year.”

Last year, Adell had a goal of hitting 20 homers and got to that mark and said this year that 30 was his target. But he now has a chance to build on that total with 29 games left to play. He could also be joined by Zach Neto, who has 23 homers, and Trout, who has been stuck at 20 homers and 398 career homers since Aug. 6.

“My goal going into the year was I really wanted to focus on getting the pitches to drive and just try to put off my ‘A’ swing as much as I can,” Adell said. “But in the back of my mind, the soft goal was 30, and I wanted to get to that number. But there was only one way to really do that and that’s by making good decisions at the plate and being healthy enough to get the ABs and be in the lineup.”

Interim manager Ray Montgomery has been impressed by the way both Ward and Adell have carried themselves this year and how much they’ve grown in recent years. Montgomery has been in the organization since 2021 and was excited to see them both get to 30 homers this year.

“It’s quite an accomplishment and the two guys that did it obviously deserve all the accolades,” Montgomery said. “Because again, two of my favorites in terms of the amount of work they put into it, how they got to this point and quite frankly, Jo is full steam ahead and Taylor just being Taylor, constantly showing up, set your clock to him. Some days might be better than others, but he’s going to post.”