Angels prospect Jo Adell on his first homer, Pig Latin and getting head-butted in a bad place

Ryan Fagan

Angels prospect Jo Adell on his first homer, Pig Latin and getting head-butted in a bad place image

Sporting News writer Ryan Fagan traveled through Florida and Arizona this spring, stopping at camps and chatting with the players. One of his side projects is a quick-hitter Q/A we’re calling “Two Minutes With …”

Previous editions: Anthony Rizzo | Max Muncy | Touki Toussaint | Clint Frazier | Pat Neshek | Jonny Venters | Chris Iannetta | Cal Quantrill | Ben Gamel | Robert Stock

Up now: Angels prospect Jo Adell

What’s one of your first baseball memories?
ADELL:
My first home run in coach-pitch. I was 6 years old, and it was the only home run my dad ever missed. That’s like his biggest regret. I hit a home run to center field, way out into the parking lot. There was actually a fence. At the time, I’d never hit a home run so I was just sprinting around the bases, all jacked up. I called my dad. He was on business. I was like, ‘Yo, you missed it. I went yard.” After that he never missed another one, that’s for sure.

What’s the last show you binge-watched?
ADELL:
I’d have to say "Power." Unreal. Shady business work, family-type stuff. I probably sat down and watched like 12 in a row. Kinda went crazy with that. 

What’s your favorite free-time activity? 
ADELL:
Love to go to the mall. Not to spend-spend, but take a walk around and window shop, all that. Back home in Louisville, I kinda bounce around and go everywhere. There are a couple outlets that are about 30 minutes from my house, but I’ll pretty much go wherever and look around. 

What’s one talent you’d most like to have?
ADELL:
Play the piano. That’s one. Not a lot of people know that, but if I could play the piano, that’d be dope. 

What’s your most useless talent?
ADELL:
I can speak Pig Latin, which really isn’t a language. My mom taught me. That doesn’t translate to anybody in here, though. Nobody speaks Pig Latin as a first language.

Who’s one of your favorite Instagram follows?
ADELL:
FoodGod is one of them. Just crazy amounts of food, candy and stuff like that. It’s weird to see that people actually eat some of that.  

What’s your most embarrassing injury? 
ADELL:
In high school, I jumped and made a play at the fence in right-center field, and the right fielder head-butted me in the nuts. Yeah. I made the play, which was great, but I was down. Everybody thought I’d landed weird or something. It could have been much worse. 

What’s the best purchase you’ve ever made?
ADELL:
I bought my dad a car after I got drafted. He was driving an ’03 Navigator, and I bought him a new Grand Cherokee. That was awesome. He had no idea. We scheduled the whole thing so he didn’t know. 

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.