Jo Adell (OF, LAA) - Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 15

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 8% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: With the unfortunate news of Mike Trout's hamate bone injury, 24-year-old outfielder Jo Adell was recalled to join the Los Angeles Angels on the Fourth of July. In two appearances so far, Adell is 2-for-5 with a double, triple, and two strikeouts. His only other Major League at-bats this season came in a one-game call-up on June 8th when he homered and walked in a 1-for-3 effort, playing right field.

After pinch-hitting on the Fourth of July, Adell started in the clean-up spot and played left field on Wednesday before the Angels' day off on Thursday. The quick start in the middle of the order is a great sign for the LA top prospect, who has shown spurts of being a power/speed threat in partial stints for the Angels the last few seasons.

A putrid batting average and a massive strikeout rate ended his 2020 call-up after just 38 games. Those rates improved in 2021, but only four homers and two steals in 35 games among a crowded Angels outfield sent him back down for 2022. Last year Adell's strikeout rate ballooned back up to 37.5%, and he remained on a mediocre 15-homer, 10-steal pace in his 88 games played.

Los Angeles will give the 2017 first round pick one more chance this year, as he hopes to bring his 26.8% strikeout rate, .271 batting average, and .376 on-base percentage up to the majors to fill the massive Trout void. Adell has also ripped 23 homers and swiped nine bases in his 73 games at Triple-A Salt Lake so far in 2023.

Adell is a speculative pickup that fantasy managers must make if they're desperate to fill a outfield void in the middle of the season (perhaps one left by Mike Trout?) simply because of his upside. The strikeout rate will likely hover around 30%, even considering his Triple-A improvements this year, so the young slugger is certainly more valuable in Roto leagues.

That being said, if Adell can find a way to transfer these power gains to the Angels' lineup while swiping 10 more bags the rest of the year, we could be looking at a top-40 outfielder the rest of the way, assuming the LA lineup finally gets healthy and on the same page. We could be dropping Adell again in three weeks, but the upside is worth the add now, especially for those looking for power and speed help from the bottom half of their standings.

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