Jo Adell didn’t need long to explain why Donovan Mitchell means more to him than just another Cleveland sports star. The Guardians slugger traced the connection all the way back to Louisville, Kentucky, where both men’s paths first started crossing in the background long before they ended up in Cleveland.
At an ALCS media session, Adell talked about following Mitchell from afar while growing up in the same hometown.
“I’m originally from Louisville, Kentucky. And obviously, everyone knows Donovan back home, and I was always a huge fan,” Adell said.
“He was into baseball and all sports, his dad being involved in baseball. And we just kind of had that kind of relationship from afar at that point.”
Mitchell’s father works for the New York Mets.
Adell’s own baseball path began with a Louisville commitment before the Los Angeles Angels took him 10th overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. Later, when he played for the Angels’ Triple-A team in Salt Lake City, Mitchell was making his mark with the Utah Jazz. The overlap kept showing up in their careers, even if they were usually separated by league and sport.
“Throughout kind of my career to this point, we’ve kind of been in passing of that connection,” Adell said. “And obviously being here now in Cleveland and getting the opportunity to rep the jersey and kind of rep a little bit of that hometown feel. And that feeling of we both are kind of in the same city again, playing our sport and doing our thing.”
The reunion in Cleveland came after the Angels traded Adell to the Guardians on Aug. 3 for catching prospect Jacob Cozart.
Once they were in the same city again, the jersey swaps started to tell the story. Mitchell wore Adell’s jersey during a Cavaliers preseason game, and Adell answered by wearing Mitchell’s Cavs jersey to Progressive Field for Game 5 of the ALDS.
“It was a pretty cool moment. And yeah, when he wore the jersey through the tunnel, that was pretty cool stuff,” Adell said. “So I had to return the favor.”
That bond showed up again before Game 3 of the ALCS, when Mitchell threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Progressive Field and Adell was behind the plate to catch it. Cleveland then beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 to move ahead in the series, 2-1.
Game 4 was later moved to Saturday after a rainout, with Adell in the lineup as the designated hitter as Cleveland kept its push toward the World Series going.
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