Willy Adames

Willy Adames

28-Year-Old ShortstopSS
Milwaukee Brewers
2023 Fantasy Outlook
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. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#92
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $8.7 million contract with the Brewers in January of 2023.
Sitting Wednesday
SSMilwaukee Brewers
September 27, 2023
Adames is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
The Brewers are sitting multiple regulars, including Adames, after clinching the NL Central title Tuesday. Brice Turang will shift to shortstop while Andruw Monasterio starts at the keystone.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 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
45
16
28
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
10
14
15
4
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+3%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+9%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+11%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+9%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .744 495 58 17 57 6 .230 .323 .421
Since 2021vs Right .768 1313 175 63 194 12 .241 .311 .458
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
2021vs Left .771 168 21 8 18 1 .235 .321 .450
2021vs Right .838 387 56 17 55 4 .273 .344 .494
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
Even Split
2023
 
 
+17%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+5%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+21%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .763 880 120 46 133 7 .227 .308 .455
Since 2021Away .761 928 113 34 118 11 .248 .320 .441
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
2021Home .734 261 31 13 40 2 .214 .307 .428
2021Away .890 294 46 12 33 3 .302 .364 .526
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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
11.2%
 
K Rate
25.9%
 
BABIP
.259
 
ISO
.190
 
AVG
.217
 
OBP
.310
 
SLG
.407
 
OPS
.717
 
wOBA
.316
 
Exit Velocity
87.3 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
35.3%
 
Barrels/PA
7.7%
 
Expected BA
.242
 
Expected SLG
.442
 
Sprint Speed
21.8 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
36.0%
 
Line Drive %
19.3%
 
Fly Ball %
44.7%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Willy Adames See More
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27 days ago
Todd Zola reviews Underdog's new playoff best-ball leagues, where the runaway success of Atlanta and Ronald Acuna in the regular season may actually hurt their value to your roster.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
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
Drives in four runs
SSMilwaukee Brewers
September 11, 2023
Adames went 3-for-4 with a triple, two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored in Monday's 12-0 win over the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Three-run homer in loss
SSMilwaukee Brewers
September 7, 2023
Adames went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 5-4 loss against the Pirates.
ANALYSIS
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Launches three-run homer in win
SSMilwaukee Brewers
September 1, 2023
Adames went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer in Friday's 7-5 win over the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
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Stays hot with homer, three RBI
SSMilwaukee Brewers
August 24, 2023
Adames went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in Wednesday's 8-7 win over the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Another productive day
SSMilwaukee Brewers
August 22, 2023
Adames went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's victory over Minnesota.
ANALYSIS
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