Willy Adames

Willy Adames

29-Year-Old ShortstopSS
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Adames' 2023 campaign was a frustrating one, as he clubbed 24-plus homers for the third straight year and had a career-best 11.7 percent walk rate, but his .217/.310/.417 slash line left plenty to be desired. He may have deserved some better results with a .242 xBA and .442 SLG, but he saw his hard-hit rate drop by over seven points to 36.1 percent, while he also swung at more pitches out of the zone (a career-high 35.6 percent). He still provided strong defense at shortstop with plus-eight DRS, which is likely why he was able to retain his everyday spot in the lineup. Adames had relatively neutral home/road splits during his first full season with Milwaukee in 2022, but he was awful on the road last year with a .665 OPS. He could be a buy-low candidate for 2024 given his previous success but will obviously come with some risk for fantasy managers, especially if struggles persist away from American Family Field. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#182
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $12.25 million contract with the Brewers in January of 2024.
Gets QO from Milwaukee
SSFree Agent  
November 4, 2024
The Brewers extended Adames a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer Monday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Adames will undoubtedly decline the offer, as he's set to sign a lucrative, long-term contract in free agency this winter. Assuming that contract doesn't come from Milwaukee, the Brewers will receive a draft pick as compensation.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
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2018
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
14
73
26
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
3
5
30
10
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+12%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+37%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+9%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+11%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .693 506 62 13 55 8 .215 .318 .374
Since 2022vs Right .779 1435 187 74 235 26 .243 .312 .467
2024vs Left .623 179 25 4 16 3 .191 .307 .316
2024vs Right .851 509 68 28 96 18 .271 .340 .511
2023vs Left .763 159 18 4 19 2 .231 .352 .410
2023vs Right .701 477 55 20 61 3 .212 .296 .406
2022vs Left .699 168 19 5 20 3 .224 .298 .401
2022vs Right .778 449 64 26 78 5 .243 .298 .479
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+9%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+5%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+17%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+5%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .789 949 133 51 158 16 .238 .316 .473
Since 2022Away .727 992 116 36 132 18 .234 .311 .415
2024Home .815 330 44 18 65 11 .247 .330 .485
2024Away .774 358 49 14 47 10 .254 .332 .442
2023Home .775 310 42 15 45 2 .230 .319 .456
2023Away .661 326 31 9 35 3 .205 .301 .360
2022Home .775 309 47 18 48 3 .235 .298 .477
2022Away .738 308 36 13 50 5 .241 .299 .440
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Willy Adames compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.43
 
BB Rate
10.8%
 
K Rate
25.1%
 
BABIP
.297
 
ISO
.211
 
AVG
.251
 
OBP
.331
 
SLG
.462
 
OPS
.794
 
wOBA
.346
 
Exit Velocity
88.6 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
31.5%
 
Barrels/PA
7.7%
 
Expected BA
.248
 
Expected SLG
.474
 
Sprint Speed
21.4 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
31.4%
 
Line Drive %
18.9%
 
Fly Ball %
49.8%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Adames's 2022 outlook reminded fantasy managers how the shortstop was two different players: the struggling Home Willy at Tropicana Field and the awesome Road Willy away from it. Adames certainly enjoyed a full season in his new home as he hit 18 of his 31 homers in Milwaukee while setting a career high in RBIs and steals while finishing as the seventh most valuable shorstop on the season in standard formats. The new home digs helped him with homers, but switching leagues and divisions threw in a level of unfamilarity which led to batting average challenges both at home and on the road despite his third consecutive reduction in strikeout rate as his challenges with non-fastballs continue to linger. Adames is in a contract year, and has proven his merits defensively and has shown the ability to hit for power, but he remains a batting average risk until he shows he can effectively handle non-fastballs.
Fantasy managers and Rays fans were well aware of the split personalities of Home Willy and Road Willy heading into 2021. The shortstop mashed on the road but struggled to hit at home while complaining about the lights at Tropicana Field. The late-May trade to Milwaukee freed Road Willy into full-time masher as he hit .285/.366/.521 after the trade with 20 homers, 61 runs and 58 RBI while missing some time late in the season on the injury list. Now Adames will enjoy a full season in his new comfy home in a division with no less than three teams in rebuild mode in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Cincinnati. There were those who thought Adames had a chance at NL MVP before he went down with his injury, and he is absolutely in that conversation to begin 2022. In addition to the favorable conditions he now enjoys in his home park, he has a decent surrounding cast and will play an imbalanced schedule against projected second-division clubs.
At 25 years old, Adames already has more than 1,100 PA under his belt at the major-league level. Known more for his glove at shortstop, Adames seemed to be making major strides at the plate in 2020 only to lose a lot of that steam in the playoffs. He was 37% better than league average by wRC+ during the regular season, but he also struck out 36.1% of the time and those swing-and-miss issues carried over to the postseason (25 strikeouts in 59 at-bats). Statcast paints a pretty grim picture when it comes to expected stats, and Adames' whiff rate on offspeed pitches stands out as an obvious red flag. We still like the talent and pedigree, but complicating matters is the fact that Wander Franco, the top prospect in baseball, is breathing down his neck. Adames' defense remains a plus and it's not out of the question that Franco could break in at second base and push Brandon Lowe to the outfield full time.
There was a time when .254 with 20 homers and four steals from a shortstop would be envied. Now, the position is the infield's strongest. Adames is still just 24 years and showing signs of improvement, despite what appears to be a downturn from his rookie campaign. Adames doesn't have an elite ceiling, but he can elevate up the ranks. His contact, hard-hit rate and average exit velocity all increased during his sophomore season; the results just don't reflect the gains. Adames' xwOBA in 2018 was .293 while it was .315 last season, illustrating the better skills, though that mark is still tepid compared to other shortstops. Adames' perceived step back creates a buying opportunity for a cheap middle infielder with breakout potential, including steals as his sprint speed is well above average. Plus, he's the rare Tampa position player in the lineup nearly every day thanks to his stellar defense.
Stop us if you have heard this story before: prospect crushes Triple-A pitching while fans and fantasy players pine for his promotion. Player is promoted, has early success, but then goes into a huge slump. Prospect is demoted, comes back with a new mindset, and eventually reaches the levels of success everyone hoped he would immediately enjoy. Blake Snell did that in 2017 and Adames did that in 2018. He hit .224/.227/.329 with a 34% strikeout rate before he was demoted in July, but returned to hit .305/.383/.435 over the rest of the season with a 27% strikeout rate and an 11% walk rate. The power will come as he continues to physically mature as he is still just 23 years old. He will hit 20 homers in a season before he steals 10 bases, and that could happen in 2019. Adames is not going to be a superstar, but he will be a better-than-average offensive shortstop for the foreseeable future.
There may not be a better example in the minors of the difference between game power and raw power. Adames has never hit more than 11 home runs in a season and his career-high ISO is .159. However, he is one of the strongest shortstops in pro ball and has plus raw power. As he grows more comfortable and receives more upper-level instruction, he will start to access that power more in games, and when he does, his stock will explode. His best current offensive skill is his ability to work the count and get on base at a high clip, posting walk rates over 11 percent ever since joining the Rays in 2014. This pairs nicely with his above-average hit tool, and should eventually allow him to hit near the top of a big-league lineup. Adames will chip in a handful of steals, but he is not a burner. Some have questioned whether he would stick at shortstop long term, but he silenced the doubters in 2017, and should take over as the Rays' shortstop of the future early this season.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a strong year at Double-A Montgomery, slashing .274/.366/.409 with career highs in homers, walks and stolen bases. His numbers were up across the board from his 2015 campaign at High-A Charlotte, and he now looks to take the next step at Triple-A Durham in the coming season. Part of his improvement was in the area of plate discipline, as he lowered his strikeout rate almost a full six percentage points to 21.3 percent. Adames was added to the Rays' 40-man roster on Nov. 18, and if he continues to thrive in Triple-A, he could potentially see the field with the big league club before the end of the 2017 campaign. Based on his body of work to date, Adames projects as an excellent multi-category fantasy producer whenever he does settle in with the Rays for good.
Adames came to Tampa Bay in the David Price deal and is a very intriguing prospect, despite what the stats have been thus far. He will open the season in Double-A Montgomery as a 20-year-old, making him one of the youngest players in the league at a critical position. With Daniel Robertson in front of him, the Rays have no reason to rush him to the majors, but of the two, it is likely Adames that will stick at shortstop while Robertson goes to second base. The offense should begin to look better as he fills out physically. The recent acquisition of Brad Miller under a few more years of player control almost ensures Adames won’t be seen until 2018.
Adames was the third piece the Rays received in the David Price deal, and unlike Drew Smyly and Nick Franklin, Adames is several years away from the big leagues. However, he has the potential to be the best player of the three, especially if he can stick up the middle. A bat-first shortstop, Adames spent his entire age-18 season at the Low-A affiliates of the Tigers and the Rays, compiling a .271/.353/.429 slash line with eight home runs and six steals in 514 plate appearances. For an 18-year-old to do that in a full season league suggests he is advanced enough with the stick to move fast if his defense does not hold him back. An optimistic ETA would be late 2016, with a more likely debut in the summer of 2017. Still, in dynasty leagues where each team gets 10 minor league keepers, Adames needs to be owned based on his potential production in power and batting average, which should play even if he gets moved to third base.
More Fantasy News
Getting first day off
SSMilwaukee Brewers  
September 19, 2024
Adames isn't in the Brewers' lineup for Thursday's game against the Diamondbacks, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Sets career high in homers
SSMilwaukee Brewers  
September 14, 2024
Adames went 3-for-3 with two home runs, five RBI and a walk in Saturday's 15-8 win over the Diamondbacks.
ANALYSIS
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Homers, swipes two bags
SSMilwaukee Brewers  
September 7, 2024
Adames went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two stolen bases in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Rockies.
ANALYSIS
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Hits another homer
SSMilwaukee Brewers  
September 2, 2024
Adames went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run during Monday's 9-3 win over St. Louis.
ANALYSIS
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Keeps rolling Saturday
SSMilwaukee Brewers  
August 31, 2024
Adames went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, a walk, a stolen base and an additional run scored in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Reds.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Qualifying offer awaits
SSFree Agent  
November 1, 2024
The Brewers are expected to extend a $21.05 million qualifying offer to Adames for 2025, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
ANALYSIS
The 29-year-old totaled 32 homers, 21 stolen bases, 112 RBI and 93 runs during the regular season and is headed for a nine-figure contract this winter. Milwaukee will receive draft-pick compensation once Adames declines the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, which seems to be a foregone conclusion given the shortstop market and the organization's spending history.
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