ANAHEIM — The hope for Jo Adell can be found, surprisingly, in Luis Rengifo.

Adell is a 6-foot-3 outfielder and Rengifo is 5-foot-10 middle infielder. They seemingly have little in common as hitters. But Angels hitting coach Jeremy Reed said the transformation that Rengifo has made this season is precisely what Adell is trying to do.

Although Rengifo doesn’t have the same type of power that Adell has, he does have power, and for much of his early seasons in the majors, his swing was too long as he tried to unleash that power.

This year, Rengifo has shortened his swing, and as a result, he’s lifted his OPS from .618 in 2019-21 to .721 this season. He already has 11 home runs in 387 plate appearances, after hitting 14 homers in his first 702 plate appearances.

“With Luis, we’ve been harping on low line drives with him and the power will come,” Reed said. “Low line drive. Low line drive. The power will come. Shorter and more direct. It’s basically translated to where he’s starting to get some hits with more consistency. When the ball catches the barrel out front, you see the ball travel.”

Rengifo is 25 and needed parts of three seasons in the majors before it clicked. Adell is 23 and he’s currently had 493 plate appearances in the majors over parts of three seasons. Adell has a .613 OPS. He’s hit 13 homers, including six this season.

“I do watch that,” Adell said. “What (Rengifo) has done is not only taken his approach and made it shorter. He’s made great contact, but he’s also been able to just go out and just react. I think once he went the mode of just going out reacting, he was banging balls around and doing his thing, so I’m definitely trying to find my own version of that.”

This season Adell is hitting .223 with a .637 OPS. He’s struck out 81 times, which accounts for 36.7% of his plate appearances.

Reed said Adell’s issue is that he is a “long lever guy,” because of his size. That’s going to make his swing naturally longer than a player like Rengifo. So Reed and the Angels are working with him on shortening that.

“It’s something he’s very aware of,” Reed said.

Reed said they’ve put Adell against a pitching machine at high velocity so he can practice simply getting the bat to the ball with a short stroke. They’ve tried alternating high velocity and breaking balls. It’s all in an effort to get Adell to cut down his swing.

“You have enough power,” Reed said. “You don’t need to try to grab more. We’re trying to get those thoughts in his head of being more short and direct and the ball will go. The first row counts the same as the 50th.”

Manager Phil Nevin has started Adell 34 times in 43 games since he came back to the majors in July. Adell has come off the bench in many of the games when he hasn’t started.

Even though Nevin is not playing Adell in every single game, he has said he’s getting sufficient time to develop.

Nevin still believes he will.

“You’ve got to remember he’s just 23,” Nevin said. “For a lot of guys, things don’t happen until the mid-20s. It’s a guy you’ve got to be patient with. There’s a lot of talent there. Coach him the right way. Love him the right way. Eventually, we’re going to see a superstar player. I think it’s in there. I’ve told him that. One of my goals is to make him the superstar player that I think he can be.”

MONIAK UPDATE

Outfielder Mickey Moniak will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday. Nevin said he’s not sure how much time Moniak will need, but he figures he’ll need at least 15 to 20 at-bats.

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“We’re going to see how his at-bats go,” Nevin said. “It’s really a pain tolerance thing.”

Moniak fractured his finger on Aug. 7. He is able to come back relatively quickly because the fracture is at the very tip of his finger.

Moniak had four hits, including two homers, in his 14 at-bats with the Angels before the injury.

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Mike Mayers, 1-1, 5.17) vs. Tigers (LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, 3-4, 4.17), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM