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What Willy Adames’ Specific Plans Are with the Brewers?…………………………
Upon his arrival to the Brewers on May 22, 2021, he has amassed 12.3 fWAR. Christian Yelich is the next position player closest to Adames with 7.8 fWAR, and Corbin Burnes (13.2) is the only player for the Brewers to generate more fWAR than Adames during that time.
On the one hand, Adames will be crucial to the Brewers’ success if they hope to win the division once again this year. Regardless of the player’s importance to the team, they have demonstrated a propensity to take advantage of opportunities to capitalise on his value and earn a return that will ultimately help the team.
Adames has had a strong start to the 2024 season, and a strong season would undoubtedly increase his market value for the Brewers as well as for Adames personally.
Let’s examine the factors that Adames changed to initiate his early-season comeback.
Rankings and statistics updated before May 10’s opening pitch.
Making a Small Setup Change to Get Great Outcomes
From an offensive standpoint, Adames’ 2023 season was unimaginably difficult. His technique was a mess, he was having trouble maintaining consistent contact, and his hard-hit percentage had drastically decreased from the previous campaign.
But since the 2024 season is only getting underway, Adames appears to have returned to his previous level of play.
Adames’s stance is the one that sticks out the most when considering the adjustments he made to ignite his quick start.
The load and swing mechanics of Adames appear to be the same as they were the previous season. Rather, he has made significant changes to his pre-pitch setup since 2023.
Two videos that contrast Adames’ positions from the previous two seasons are shown here. His position from 2023 is emphasised in the first film, and his position from current season is shown in the second. Take note of how his pre-pitch motion has changed:
There are some noticeable variations in his warm-up regimen. In particular, his stance moves noticeably less in general.
Adames displayed a slight bat waggle in 2023 coupled with a severe bend in his back and knees. Adames has removed almost all movement in his stance this year, including the bend in his back, and he has entirely straightened out his left leg.
He has eliminated any additional noise from his setup and is now considerably more vertical in his stance. He has reduced the distance he must travel to transition from his stance into a loaded position, which probably lessens the work required to
Adames appears to be a much more assured batter at the plate, and maybe his new posture is the first step towards that. He has improved almost entirely when comparing his stellar start this year to his 2023 numbers.
Sustaining Domination While Enhancing Communication
Increasing contact rates without sacrificing power production is a difficult combination that many power hitters try to accomplish. Adames’s ceiling has been capped during his brief career due to a dubious attitude and mediocre contact abilities.
Having said that, Adames’s great start to the 2024 campaign is especially encouraging because he has demonstrated significant progress in his plate discipline.
Baseball Savant indicates that Adames’s chase percentage of 24.1%, which is in the 70th percentile, is still within reach. Compared to his out-of-zone swing percentage of 31.8% in 2023, that is a notable improvement.
The foundation of Adames’ attacking strategy is his chase rate. Every other area of his game gets better if he is using a disciplined approach and hitting pitches outside the strike zone.
Expanding the strike zone fully neutralises Adames’ ability to put a strong swing on the ball, making him a far less effective batter. As a hitter with such devastating power, Adames must choose his swings carefully.
Throughout his first 36 games, he has not only kept his chase rate reasonable, but he has also reduced his total whiff rate from a season ago by more than three percent. His strikeout rate has dropped to 20.0% as a result of these enhancements, which is almost six points less than his 2023 figure.
Adames is also walking at a rate that is in the top 25% of baseball, a career high of 11.3%.
As previously mentioned, Adames has made these advancements while retaining his exceptional power output, and his run production has greatly benefited from this.
Adames’ average exit velocity of 87.4 mph placed him in the 16th percentile during the previous season. At 89.3 mph on average, he is currently in the 55th percentile for this year. Similarly, his 44% hard-hit rate is 7.5 points higher than it was the previous season.
Adames is raising the ball higher than he has ever done, in addition to hitting it harder. With his highest launch angle of the season (20.6 degrees) in 160 plate appearances, he has produced a career-low ground ball percentage of 33.9%. In addition, with a barrel rate of 10.1%, he ranks third among eligible National League shortstops.
Adames, on the other hand, has emerged as one of the league’s best shortstops this year. With 25, he leads all MLB shortstops in RBIs. His.200 isolated power ranks sixth. He is tied for second among National League shortstops in fWAR (1.5).
More importantly, Adames remains one of the Brewers’ most useful offensive weapons. He leads the squad in runs scored (21), stolen bases (6), total bases (64), and home runs (7). He is also fourth in wRC+ (129), wOBA (.354), and OPS (.801).
It will be very difficult to replace Adames’ run production and power output if the Brewers decide to part ways with him this season.
He might be among the best offensive weapons available at the trade deadline, though, as he is probably going to test the open market at the end of the season.
Do the Brewers take advantage of his worth and potentially make a big trade deadline acquisition, or do they ride out the last year of his deal and rely on his production to help get them to the postseason?
The Brewers have a few options with their talented shortstop, but making a choice won’t be simple.
What Options Do The Brewers Have With Adames?
Thankfully, Joey Ortiz is a ready-made alternative for shortstop for the Brewers. With his new team, Ortiz is off to a great start. He is the Brewers’ shortstop of the future.
Nevertheless, Ortiz has been a vital player at third base thus far this season, and his move to shortstop would create a big void at the hot corner for the duration of the ballpark.
Oliver Dunn is probably the front-runner to take over third base full-time if Adames is traded in the middle of the season. In his first month of big league action, Dunn has shown some intriguing abilities, but as he adjusts to life in the majors, there will be ups and downs in his game.
Andruw Monasterio and Tyler Black, Just Baseball’s 72nd-ranked prospect, may also be contenders for playing time at the hot corner. But Black is preparing to move to first base full-time with Triple-A Nashville, and Monasterio has had difficulty maintaining a spot on the major league roster this season.
In other words, removing Adames from the team would not only significantly impact the offence, but it would also provide fresh roster construction challenges.
In the event that Adames declines the contract and goes via free agency, the Brewers can try to obtain compensation for the draft pick if they keep Adames until the conclusion of the season at least by extending him the qualifying offer. Although the return wouldn’t be as high as if they traded him in the middle of the season, it would still be preferable to nothing.
The course of the Brewers’ season will largely determine what they decide to do with Adames. They have a strong possibility of keeping Adames through the conclusion of the season if they are fighting for a division title and are in a strong position to contend for a postseason slot come the All-Star break. They probably will try to trade Adames at the trade deadline in order to get a good return and focus on the future if their season falls apart in the upcoming months.
Last Words
All season long, there will be a lot of discussion about Willy Adames and the Milwaukee Brewers. He not only plays shortstop with excellent defence, but he also possesses some of the strongest power in the game. He is one of the most significant members of the Brewers team, both on and off the pitch and in the clubhouse.
Nevertheless, Milwaukee has been in playoff contention for the majority of the last ten years because to its ability to continually restructure its roster in an effort to attain continuous success in the regular season. If Adames decides to leave Milwaukee after the 2024 season, he may be one of the best rental bats available for a substantial return.