Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell has become one of the Cleveland Guardians’ most visible supporters during their postseason run, and his connection to Jo Adell runs a lot deeper than a shared city.

Speaking at an ALCS media session, the Guardians slugger opened up about a relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers star that started in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

“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 was a Louisville baseball commit before the Los Angeles Angels selected him 10th overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. He later played for the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City, where Mitchell was starring for the Utah Jazz.

“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 two landed in the same city once more when the Angels traded Adell to Cleveland on Aug. 3 for catching prospect Jacob Cozart.

You may also likeArticle continues below
How 50 Cent impacted Cavs star Donovan Mitchell's approach for first pitch
Cavs' Donovan Mitchell gets 1st pitch honor for Guardians' upcoming playoff game
Cavs' Kenny Atkinson reveals Hall of Famer 'prototype' for Evan Mobley
Cavs' James Harden puts doubts to rest with solid preseason vs. Magic

Mitchell wore Adell’s jersey during a Cavaliers preseason game, and Adell responded 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.”

The connection was on display again before Game 3 of the ALCS, when Mitchell threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Progressive Field and Adell caught it. Cleveland won that game 3-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays to take a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 was pushed back to Saturday after a rainout, with Adell in the lineup as the designated hitter as Cleveland pushes toward the World Series.