Willy Adames

Adames in the Florida Instructional League in 2013

Adames signed with the Detroit Tigers as an international free agent in July 2012.[1] He made his professional debut in 2013 with the Dominican Summer League Tigers. In 60 games, he hit .245/.419/.370 with one home run. Adames started the 2014 season with the West Michigan Whitecaps.[2][3]

On July 31, 2014, Adames was involved in a three team trade that sent Drew Smyly, Adames, and Nick Franklin to Tampa Bay, Austin Jackson to Seattle, and David Price to Detroit.[4][5] The Rays assigned him to the Bowling Green Hot Rods, where he finished the season.[6] In 125 combined games between West Michigan and Bowling Green, he batted .271 with eight home runs and 61 RBIs. He played 2015 with the Charlotte Stone Crabs where he posted a .258 batting average with four home runs and 46 RBIs, 2016 with the Montgomery Biscuits where he batted .274 with 11 home runs, 57 RBIs and 31 doubles. In 2016 Adames was selected to the World Team in the All-Star Futures Game.[7] The Rays added Adames to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.[8] In 2017, Adames played with the Durham Bulls where he batted .277 with 10 home runs, 62 RBIs and a .776 OPS.[9] In 2018 with Durham, Adames hit .286 with 4 home runs and a .765 OPS in 64 games.[10]

According to MLB.com Adames was ranked as the number one prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system in 2015, 2016, and 2017, the number two prospect in 2018, and as high as the 16th best prospect nationally.[11][12][13]

Adames was promoted to the Rays on May 22, 2018, making his major league debut the same day. He got his first hit, a solo home run off of Chris Sale, that same night. He was optioned back to Durham three days later to make room for Joey Wendle, who was returning from the paternity list. Adames was later recalled back to Tampa on June 11.[14] On July 12, Adames was sent back down to Durham in order to receive more consistent playing time, due to the jam at middle infield between Adeiny Hechavarria, Daniel Robertson, Joey Wendle, and Matt Duffy. Adames hit .226 with a .606 OPS in his second stint.[15] Adames was recalled a third time on July 22.[14] On August 7, Adames hit a walk off solo home run against Miguel Castro of the Baltimore Orioles.[16] In the month of August, Adames was awarded a spot on MLB.com's "team of the month" after slashing .318/.384/.523 with 5 home runs and 14 RBIs.[17][18] Following a two-hit performance in the final game of the year, Adames ended the season with three straight multi-hit games, helping the Rays reach 90 wins for the first time since 2013. This stretch capped off a strong second half for Adames, whom hit .329 in the final two months of the season.[19] Adames ended the season slashing .278/.348/.406 with 10 home runs in 85 games, recording a 2.0 wins above replacement.[20]

In 2019, Adames solidified himself the everyday shortstop, playing 152 games at the position. On May 29th, Adames hit a walk-off single to beat the Toronto Blue Jays.[21] On September 29th, Adames hit another walk-off single, this time against the Boston Red Sox. This was his third career walk off. On defense in 2019, he recorded 13 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and a 2.1 defensive wins above replacement.[22][23] At the plate, Adames hit .254 with 20 home runs, 52 RBI, and 69 runs scored. Combined with the stellar defense, he recorded 4.2 wins above replacement.[24] In the American League Division Series, Adames posted a .385/.500/.983 slash line, hitting two home runs and a double as the Rays lost to the pennant winning Houston Astros in five games. In game 4, Adames recorded an assist on a throw dubbed 'The Relay' by local media, where he made a perfect transition and throw, 178 feet away from home plate.[25]

In the shortened 2020 season, Adames played 54 games for the first place Tampa Bay Rays. He slashed .259/.332/.481 with 8 home runs and 23 RBIs. That year, the Rays won the American League pennant. Adames batted .143 with one RBI in the World Series, which the Rays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.