ANAHEIM -- There was a time when Jo Adell was considered a potential trade candidate to create a change of scenery after his initial scuffles in his first few years in the Majors with the Angels.
But Adell has experienced a breakout 2025 season and kept it rolling by going 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk and an RBI to lift the Angels to an 8-5 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. It came at a critical time with the Angels clinging to contention as they try to avoid being sellers before Thursday’s Trade Deadline. They’re now 53-55 and four games back of the Mariners for the final AL Wild Card spot, while Adell has played his way into becoming a big part of the organization going forward.
“We grinded it out,” Adell said. “A lot of really good at-bats, a lot of good defense. We just stayed in the game. The insurance runs were huge. Those are always big. Just staying in every inning, trying to get the job done and trying to pass the baton. The walks were big, and we ran the bases really well. Everybody did their part individually.”
Adell got the offense going early, as he dropped in a single to score two runs with two outs in the first inning against lefty Patrick Corbin. He looped a 3-1 sinker to right field and Adolis García made the first of several defensive miscues for the Rangers, allowing Nolan Schanuel to score all the way from first on a throwing error.
“I definitely felt like I facilitated really well tonight, and just did what I could, try to put the ball in play, try to put pressure on them to make plays,” Adell said. “Just trying to find a way to get on base, trying to make something happen.”
He created another scoring opportunity in the fourth, when he tripled to lead off the inning. He went down and got an 0-2 slider from Corbin and ripped it down the left-field line with Sam Haggerty having trouble tracking the ball down in the corner, allowing Adell to reach third. He later scored on another misplay from García, who dropped a shallow fly ball from Gustavo Campero to allow Adell to score. But Travis d’Arnaud was thrown out at second on a force play, which saved García from being charged with an error.
“The key to this team is just we keep fighting back,” Adell said. “We keep putting up runs. They score, we'll come back and find a way to score.”
The Rangers, though, rallied to take the lead against lefty Yusei Kikuchi, who allowed four runs (three earned) over 5 1/3 innings. Texas scored in the fourth and fifth innings before taking the lead with two runs in the sixth, including an unearned run keyed by a throwing error from left fielder Taylor Ward.
Adell, though, helped spark a four-run rally in the sixth with a one-out walk against reliever Jon Gray. After d’Arnaud drew a walk, Campero tied it up with an RBI double before Yoán Moncada delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to give the Angels the lead. Zach Neto provided an insurance run with an RBI double to left with Haggerty falling down on the play.
“He had the RBI single, the triple and honestly, I liked the walk, too,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said of Adell. “He grinded through that bat there in a big inning. He hasn't been swinging it as well in recent days or weeks, but the body of work speaks for itself.”
Adell, 26, is batting .237/.307/.470 with 21 homers, 14 doubles and 61 RBIs in 101 games this season. Adell, who has played parts of six seasons in the Majors, already set a career-high in homers and is one off his career best in RBIs. He's been especially impressive since early May, hitting .259/.338/.538 with 19 homers and 47 RBIs over his last 74 games.
“I've been feeling pretty good at the plate, not quite like I did in June, per se, but I'm fighting and I’m in every at bat,” Adell said. “I'm seeing the ball well, so that even when the outcomes aren't there, I feel like I'm having a competitive at-bat. And that's the big thing.”