The Angels’ latest 1-0 win against the Mariners might look like a normal day of them handling business, but the Angels’ defense made the night worth it for the fans in Anaheim. Well, more than the Angels, it was particularly their $5.2 million outfielder, Jo Adell’s night, despite managing just 1 hit from 3 at-bats. The right-fielder’s glove not only clinched the game for the Angels, but it also caught the attention of one of MLB’s best hands of all time, Torii Hunter.
“I’ve never seen three home run robberies in one game, and I’ve never seen a guy on the third one fall into the stands, catch the ball and keep his feet in like he’s a wide receiver,” said the 50-year-old Hunter after the game.
Well, it doesn’t happen all the time that a 9x Gold Glove Award winner and perhaps one of the best fielders in baseball applauds for home run robberies. Notably, Hunter gained fame for leaping against outfield walls to steal home runs, often cited for his acrobatic and sometimes reckless style. Remember the 2002 All-Star Game? Hunter leaped high at the right-center field wall to rob Barry Bonds of a home run in the first inning.
So, when the same guy comes back and says Adell’s play on Saturday is “probably the greatest defensive game” he’s ever seen, it means something special. And yes, it is.
In the opening inning, Adell denied Cal Raleigh with a perfectly timed leap at the wall. He crashed into the right fence and gloved the ball. Then in the eighth inning, Adell repeated the feat against Josh Naylor, again making it look routine. Both plays looked like action replays. However, just as the Angels’ pitchers Jack Kochanowicz and Sam Bachman were in awe, the brightest one was yet to come.
It came in the ninth. With the Mariners threatening to tie the game, J.P. Crawford launched a deep drive toward the foul line. But again, Adell sprinted across the outfield. He tracked the ball over his shoulder and reached above the wall to make the catch. While he fell in the stands, the ball didn’t leave his glove. And with that, Adell’s 3 home run robberies were witnessed, the Angels won the game, and the entire Anaheim was in awe.
“Jo Adell…WOW! Respect,” Mike Trout shared via X.
Even the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh couldn’t help but give a shoutout to Adell. “You just tip the cap. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy rob two homers in a game, much less three. So it’s just one of those things where baseball can amaze you night in and night out. You can see something you’ve never seen before.”
Raleigh is correct, as according to OptaSTATS, “There have been over 70,000 MLB games played in the wild card era (since 1995). Last night’s Angels-Mariners game was the only one of those to feature three home-run robberies (both teams combined). All three were by Jo Adell.”
So, Adell’s defense was not just special, but it made a place in the MLB record books. It’s rare for a low-scoring baseball game to be one of the most entertaining of the 2026 season. But it just happened despite the Angels’ offense still faltering.
The same old show with the Angels’ offense
The Angels’ defense leaped forward this year. Adell struggled on defense for several years before shifting into a Gold Glove finalist in 2024 and making his glove speak this year. But the Angels’ offense? That seems to be reading the same script from last year.
Currently, the team ranks 29th in average (.192) and 17th in total runs scored (33). The worst part is that Oswald Peraza is currently leading the Angels’ batting with a meager .259 average! Jo Adell, the hero of Saturday’s game, is hitting at .242 and yet to score a homer. And that’s not all. The Angels are striking out in 30% of their plate appearances through the first nine games of 2026.
This is a regression from their 2025 rate of 27%, which was already one of the highest in MLB history!
In the first game against the Mariners on Friday, the Angels managed to score only one hit. On Saturday, they managed 7 hits, but scored only 1 run. So, with such stats, it’s very unlikely that defense and fielding heroics would win games for the Angels regularly.
“Some of those guys that are struggling have pretty long-standing track records of hitting, so you know they’re going to come out of it,” Angels hitting coach Brady Anderson said.
After 9 games, the Angels are standing with a 4-5 record and already behind a .500 winning percentage. So, fans might find it difficult to take a bet on Anderson’s statement. Till then, the Angels’ defense will be the showstopper.
