TEMPE, Ariz. — After finishing the 2024 season with a mechanical change that led to an encouraging performance, Jo Adell is experimenting again.
A day after Adell hit a grand slam using the leg kick that he abandoned for the final two months of last season, he said he’s bringing it back. At least, some of the time.
Adell said he’s made the change with the blessing of hitting coaches Johnny Washington and Tim Laker.
“Part of hitting is decision making, but the other part is how athletic you’re going to be in the box,” Adell said Saturday. “Johnny Washington and Tim Laker have been huge about, whatever you’ve got to do to bring out the athlete when you’re playing, when you’re in the box, that’s what’s going to give you your best chance.”
Adell went on to say “nothing is set in stone,” and he may revert to the toe tap occasionally, perhaps because of the way he sees a certain pitcher or when he gets behind in the count.
Adell referred to Zach Neto, who has a much larger leg kick at times, but switches to a toe tap on a case-by-case basis.
Manager Ron Washington said he also approved of Adell’s change.
“That’s called an adjustment,” Washington said. “Sometimes you make adjustments and it works for a few minutes, and then you’ve got to make another adjustment. That’s an adjustment he made yesterday on his own, and hopefully it will continue to work for a little bit. When it doesn’t work any more, you’ve got to make another adjustment.”
Adell, 25, was once considered one of the top prospects in the sport, but was unable to find consistent success his first few years in the majors. There were flashes of power, along with plenty of strikeouts and a low batting average.
Adell was hitting .192 with a .648 OPS in late July last season, using a swing in which he lifted his front foot a few inches as he prepared to swing.
“I wouldn’t really call it a kick,” Adell said. “It’s more of a lift, or something like a step.”
Whatever the label, Adell stopped doing it July 30, instead keeping his toe on the ground and lifting his heel. He hit a homer that night. He kept the toe tap for the rest of the season. Over the final 34 games, Adell hit .248 with five homers and a .771 OPS. An oblique injury in early September ended the trial.
Now, Adell is fighting for playing time with Mickey Moniak. It’s a question of whether he can play center field – with Mike Trout moving to right – but also of whether he can be the offensive player he was at the end of the season, and not the beginning.
Washington said Adell came into camp looking too passive and mechanical. He was too focused on swing decisions, so he was taking pitches he should hit.
Washington had a chat with Adell after he started the spring 0 for 9, and told Adell to “let it fly.”
“He’s never going to be a hitter that’s going to control the strike zone,” Washington said “He’s not one of those hitters. He’s a guy to see the ball and swing, and he has to rely on his eyes to know what not to swing at. That’s what I was trying to get him to do.”
SILSETH’S SPLITTER
Right-hander Chase Silseth had his splitter working exceptionally well in Friday night’s outing against the Dodgers. He struck out six in 2⅔ innings, five of them with the splitter.
“It’s one of those pitches that it’s lethal when I get ahead,” Silseth said. “But when I’m behind in counts, like you saw on the first inning (of the previous game), we couldn’t get to it. Just one of those things that when you’re not getting ahead of guys, it tends to not go well.”
Silseth also was able to land a couple of splitters for called strikes against the Dodgers, which is an encouraging sign.
“Normally it’s a chase pitch, and I’m trying to get a swing and miss,” Silseth said. “But being able to get it in the zone, and get some people looking at it, that just makes it more dangerous.”
NOTES
Right-hander Jack Kochanowicz came through Friday’s simulated game well, Washington said. Kochanowicz had missed time with an illness. He’s now scheduled to start Tuesday. “You could see he was weak, but at least he got a chance to find out where his stamina is and know that he’s OK,” Washington said. “Now he can get back to doing what he’s doing to get his stamina back.” …
Washington said he’s been impressed so far with Niko Kavadas’ work on the defensive side, but they’d like him to be more aggressive at the plate. “He has a good eye, but he doesn’t allow his power to surface because he’s too busy worried about having a good eye,” Washington said. “This is spring training, so let it fly. Once we get into the season and you’ve got 30, 40, 50 at-bats, you can start locking in to your strike zone. But down here, man, you’ve got to swing the bat. We’re starting to get him to start swinging the bat.”