Jo Adell’s unreal grabs
In an early‑season baseball oddity, Angels outfielder Jo Adell robbed three homers in one game, a defensive sequence that preserved a 1–0 shutout and changed the result singlehandedly. Plays like that are rare and they underline how elite outfield defense can directly flip outcomes, especially in low‑scoring games. (x.com)
Jo Adell saved a game that the Angels had almost no margin to lose. On Saturday night in Anaheim, Los Angeles beat Seattle 1–0 because Adell, playing right field, reached over the wall three different times and turned home runs into outs. The victims were Cal Raleigh in the first inning, Josh Naylor in the eighth, and J.P. Crawford in the ninth. The last one sent Adell tumbling into the front row near the foul pole, where he held up the ball after replay confirmed he had made the catch before going out of play. It was, by all available reporting, the first three-homer-robbing game by one player in major league history. (mlb.com) That kind of night only matters this much in a game this small. The Angels scored exactly once, on Zach Neto’s solo home run in the first inning. Seattle managed five hits and put runners on, but never crossed the plate. Jack Kochanowicz started and worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings, and five Angels relievers finished the shutout, with Jordan Romano getting the save. Strip away Adell’s glove, and the shape of the game changes immediately. (espn.com) The first robbery set the tone because of who hit it. Raleigh is not some warning-track hitter who got unlucky. He hit 60 home runs last season and finished second in the American League MVP voting, and his drive off Kochanowicz left the bat at 104.7 mph. Statcast said that ball would have been a home run in 20 parks. Instead, Adell timed the wall, got above the yellow line, and kept the game scoreless long enough for Neto to put the Angels ahead in the bottom half of the inning. (mlb.com) The second catch was stranger because it looked like a replay. In the eighth, with the Angels still ahead by one, Naylor sent another drive toward right. Statcast projected it at 368 feet. Adell drifted back, rose at the wall, and stole that one too. Two innings, two runs erased, and now the game had narrowed to a single final test. (mlb.com) The third catch is the one people will remember because it looked impossible even before the replay. Crawford opened the ninth by hooking a ball toward the right-field corner. It carried 342 feet and would have been a home run in 23 parks. Adell sprinted over, reached out at full extension, and disappeared into the seats. For a moment the stadium had to wait for proof. Then he rose with the ball still in his glove. Romano later said he went from thinking the game was tied to calling it the best catch he had ever seen. (mlb.com) The deeper story is that Adell was not supposed to become this kind of defender. Early in his big league career, his mistakes in the outfield were hard to ignore. By 2024, he had remade himself enough to become a Gold Glove finalist in right field. Since 2020, according to Inside Edge, he is tied with Kyle Tucker for the most home run robberies in the majors, with 10. Saturday turned that steady improvement into something cartoonish. Torii Hunter, who made a career out of these catches, called it the greatest defensive game he had ever seen. (espn.com)
