Angels set to call up top prospect Jo Adell

His major league debut didn’t necessarily seem imminent, but the Angels are set to promote top prospect Jo Adell.

Early in this shortened MLB season, and with no minor league season, teams have been promoting top prospects. The Los Angeles Angels are apparently set to join the crowd, with MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reporting Monday they will promote top prospect outfielder Jo Adell.

The 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Adell started last season injured (ankle and hamstring) before finishing in Triple-A. He didn’t hit particularly well in 27 Triple-A games (.264/.321/.355, 32.8 percent strikeout rate), and was only marginally better in the Arizona Fall League play (.273/.351/.444, 26.1 percent strikeout rate). He entered this season ranked as a top-10 prospect in all of baseball by CBS Sports (No. 2), Baseball Prospectus (No. 2), Baseball America (No. 3) and MLB.com (No. 6).

Will Jo Adell make an immediate impact?

Just in mid-July, via The Orange County Register, Angels manager Joe Maddon hinted that Adell was not quite big league-ready.

“He has things to work on, quite frankly,” “Don’t be deceived by a couple well-struck balls in [an intrasquad] game.” “But, again, there’s really no rush,” he said. “I’ve been around situations where guys have been rushed, and when you do that, you could lose a really good player.”

It’s funny how things change. Any service time considerations for this season went away last week. So the Angels will have an extra year of control on Adell, assuming Super Two status is a part of the next collective bargaining agreement. They’ve also started the season 3-7, with outfielder Justin Upton particularly struggling thus far (.135, .492 OPS, 39 OPS+).

With an off-day on Monday, the Angels have not made an official announcement of Adell’s promotion yet. But it could come sometime later on Tuesday, before the 7 p.m PT first pitch in Seattle, and Adell will presumably be in the lineup right away.