Angels’ Jo Adell robbing 3 M’s homers highlight series loss

Published 9:43 am Monday, April 6, 2026

ANAHEIM, Calif. — There was a brief moment of silence amid the chaos Saturday night. The Los Angeles Angels’ Jo Adell had just toppled over the short wall in right field. It looked like he’d made another home run robbery — his third of the evening. But he’d also disappeared from view.

It wasn’t until he stuck his glove up, ball secured, that the Angel Stadium crowd realized they’d just officially witnessed one of the all-time defensive performances imaginable. Three home runs were taken away by one player, his leaps securing a 1-0 Angels win over the Seattle Mariners.

“You just get there, and it’s just decision-making,” Adell said. “Just got there, and was able to fall over and end up in somebody’s lap. I don’t know who, but it was a softer landing than I thought it would be. It’s kind of crazy.”

Adell’s defensive masterpiece highlighted a disappointing series in Anaheim, where the Mariners lost two of three to drop to 4-6 to open a season of high expectations. Seattle committed just one error, but allowed extra bases on multiple occasions while making two unecessary outs on the bases.

“The way our guys came back there at the end, they fought to get back into that game, and just weren’t able to do it in extras,” Wilson said. “It’s a tough way to lose for sure.”

There were no heroics on Sunday, but Adell’s game Saturday still had the stadium abuzz.

Adell’s first home run robbery came on the second batter of the game, when he timed his jump near the right-field wall to prevent what would have been superstar Cal Raleigh’s first long ball of the season. Then in the eighth, Josh Naylor stood and stared, thinking he’d tied the game. Not so fast.

In the ninth, J.P. Crawford looked like he’d provided his team’s elusive first run. Adell flipped that narrative amid a sea of Angels supporters who have been given minimal reasons to be excited in recent memory.

According to Inside Edge, the most home run robberies by a single player in the entire 2025 season was four. Adell nearly matched it in one night.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a guy rob two homers in one game, much less three,” Raleigh said. “Baseball can amaze you night in and night out. You can see something you’ve never seen before. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

When Adell first came up to the big leagues in 2020, he was known as a very bad defensive outfielder, worth minus-4 Outs Above Average in just 38 games. The indelible image of his rookie season is a ball bouncing off his glove and over the right field wall in Texas. But he’s slowly morphed into a good defensive player — becoming a Gold Glove finalist in 2024, with the potential for more in 2026.

“Defense was something that I struggled with,” Adell said. “Just finding ways to improve and get better and find a way to learn. At the end of the day, defense is one of those things where it’s just about trying to get the job done.”

As the final home run robbery was being reviewed in the ninth inning, Adell said he was going back through the rule book in his head. He wasn’t sure if the umpires would penalize him for leaving the playing field. But he knew he’d caught the ball, secured it, and kept it in the leather the entire time.

Watching from the dugout was Torii Hunter, a truly legendary center fielder and special assistant with the Angels. He won nine Gold Gloves over his 19 big-league seasons and is considered one of the best to ever play his position.

The 50-year-old, who’s worked with Adell on his defense in spring training and been a sounding board for him throughout his big league career, said he blacked out after Adell fell into the stands. He was more nervous than Adell himself, awaiting the final call on the review, wanting so badly for his protegé to have the moment he deserved.

“It’s amazing, man,” Hunter said. “That’s probably the greatest defensive game I’ve ever seen.”