Jo Adell is becoming what Shohei Ohtani couldn't for Mike Trout and the Angels

Shohei Ohtani was obviously everything the Los Angeles Angels could've hoped for as a player during his tenure in Anaheim, but the Angels still failed to record a single winning season with him in town or come close to making the postseason. What if I told you Jo Adell is becoming a co-star around Mike Trout while also helping the Angels do something Ohtani failed to do - win games.

I know, I know, the lack of team success was far from Ohtani's fault. Again, Ohtani was better than the Angels could've possibly hoped for as a player. I'm not here to say Adell is close to Ohtani's level, nor is he the sole reason that the Angels are in the postseason race, but I am here to tell you he's breaking out, and this breakout certainly feels real.

Adell tacked on his breakout by launching a game-tying three-run homer off Nick Sandlin of the Toronto Blue Jays. He's hit three bullets in this game, and that's been a common theme for over a month now.

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Jo Adell is finally breaking out for the Angels

Over the past 35 games, Adell has been one of the best players in the game. The stats back it up. A 1.097 OPS is the kind of production Angels fans are used to seeing from Trout and nobody else. Obviously, a 35-game sample isn't the entire season, but it's certainly large enough to get excited about. Overall, Adell now has 19 home runs and a .836 OPS. He has an argument to make the All-Star Game, crazy enough.

Adell making this kind of jump has been extremely encouraging. Expectations were incredibly high for the 26-year-old, but he had a .649 OPS through parts of five seasons entering the year. Not only was he struggling to put it together as a hitter, but his defense left a lot to be desired. His defense is still far from stellar, but when he's swinging the bat as well as he has lately, who cares?

Jo Adell is helping lead the Angels to a place they haven't been in quite some time

We can argue whether this Angels team has the talent to make the playoffs even in a weaker American League, but nobody can say this team isn't in the race right now. Even after a frustrating loss on Friday to the Jays, the Angels are just 2.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot. They're right there, and Adell is playing a key role.

Even when the Angels went all-in during Ohtani's last season with the club, they were 4.0 games back when they made their biggest trade of the deadline while also having to jump a couple of teams in the standings. Now, the Angels are 2.5 games back, and they're the first team out of the Wild Card race as of this writing.

Again, there's plenty of season left, and I'm not here to say Adell is Ohtani, but the Angels seemingly have as good of a shot as they've had in quite some time to make a legitimate playoff push. Adell's breakout has aided their pursuit.