Today’s non-roster invitee profile was still on the Mets roster when we started this series a couple of weeks ago. Adams signed a major league contract with the Mets at the end of November and was outrighted to make room for Jake Diekman on the roster. He’s on a split-deal contract, so he’ll make different amounts depending on which roster he’s on for the Mets.
Adams was drafted by the Angels back in 2012 from the University of South Florida. In 2016 he ended up with the Nationals as part of the Danny Espinosa trade. He then made his debut with the Nationals in 2017 (so if he seems familiar to you, that’s probably why). In May of 2019 he was traded to the Mariners. The Mariners then traded him in 2020 as part of seven player swap with the Padres. After playing with the Padres for two years he signed a one year deal with the Diamondbacks before signing with the Mets.
Adams had a shortened 2023 campaign due to a fractured ankle. Before landing on the injured list he was playing better than the traditional stats indicate. Over 24 games, 17 1/3 innings, Adams had a 5.71 ERA but a 3.72 FIP. That’s a pretty large difference between those stats! He was striking opponents out at a 11.4 K/9 rate, which is both good and below his career mark at 13.4.
He tossed most of his 114 1/3 career innings back in 2021 where he threw 52 2/3 innings over 65 games as a member of the Padres. That season he had a 4.10 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.196 WHIP with a 95 ERA+. He also managed to league the entire league in hitting batters at 24, despite only throwing slightly above 50 innings. His Baseball Savant page for 2021 is wild. Adams ranked in the 99th percentile for xBA, 95th for Exit Velocity, 93rd for Whiff%, 91st for K% and 99th for Hard-Hit%. He was also in the 22nd percentile for Chase% and the 2nd percentile for walks.
During that 2021 season, Adams threw two types of pitches in games. 87% of the time he tossed a high-80’s slider. The rest of the time he threw a low-to-mid-90’s fastball.
Adams can get batters to strikeout and, at least in 2021, got them to generate really weak contact. The Mets are hoping for more of the same this spring and an increase in his control. His career walk rate is 14.6%, which he did bring down to 9.9% last season. That was the first time in his career it wasn’t in double digits. Given how bullpens are used, we’ll probably see Adams with the major league team at some point this season. The hope is that his heavy slider usage pairs well with the flamethrowers the Mets have added to the bullpen this off-season.
