Willy Adames Is Getting Hot for the Giants When It Matters Most
After a slow start to the season, Willy Adames, San Francisco's prize offseason acquisition, has finally hit his stride.
The 2025 season began with a little bit of a surprise in the NL West. While the Dodgers and Padres got off to good starts as usual and the Diamondbacks weren’t far behind, the San Francisco Giants kicked the campaign off in a big way as well.
After another underwhelming 2024 season that saw them finish fourth in the division, the Giants made some upgrades in the offseason in an attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Even with the improvements, though, few likely expected the start to the season that they had.
San Fran won or tied seven of their first ten series of the season and were 19-12 through the end of April. That had them at third in the NL West at the time and two games behind the Dodgers.
Unfortunately, the next two months would see the Giants regress to the mean. Following matching 13-14 records in May and June, another loss on July 1 would have them at 45-41 and nine games back in the division, though still in third place.
Lately, though, things have started to click once again. They have won six of their last nine games and overtaken the Padres to jump into second place in the NL West.
For teams floating right around the .500 mark, the couple weeks leading up to the All-Star break are vital. They often determine whether or not a team is going to do what they can to reach the postseason.
So in the Giants’ case, their recent string of success comes at a perfect point in the season. It is probably no surprise, then, that it coincided with their star offseason acquisition finally getting hot.
The Giants’ Big Free Agent Acquisition
Among San Francisco’s top goals last offseason were to find a more permanent solution at shortstop and to add some more punch on offense. They checked both boxes with one swing of the proverbial bat.
During last year’s winter meetings, the Giants made a huge splash when they signed shortstop Willy Adames to a huge contract. The move, combined with Juan Soto’s mega deal a year later, largely was the catalyst for other big deals to finally start happening.
Adames was given a seven-year, $182 million contract to be the new starting shortstop for the Giants. It was a deal that didn’t always seem might happen for the 29-year-old.
A 17-year-old Adames was signed as an international free agent back in the summer of 2012 by the Tigers. Two years later, he would be shipped off to the Rays as part of the three-team David Price trade.
Adames would make his big league debut for Tampa in 2018. With a solid .262/.329/.426 slash line and 47 doubles, 38 homers, and 109 RBIs in his first three seasons (291 games), he had the potential to be the team’s shortstop of the future.
However, a slow start to the 2021 season started raising doubts. At the same time, over in Milwaukee, the Brewers had already run out of patience with their own starting shortstop, Orlando Arcia, and traded him to the Braves. Thus, a new deal was struck.
In late May of 2021, the Rays traded Adames to the Brewers for pitchers J.P. Feyereisen and current starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen. With the change in scenery, Adames would thrive.
The new Milwaukee shortstop would put up a .285 average and .886 OPS with 26 doubles, 20 homers, and 58 RBIs in 99 games with the Brewers. He would also end up 16th in the NL MVP voting.
Adames and his infectious personality would make him an all-time fan favorite in Milwaukee. And though his numbers would dip a bit the next couple years, his final season with the Brewers would secure his future payday.
In 2024, Adames would put up 32 homers, breaking his own record for a Brewers shortstop set two years prior, and 112 RBIs, 17th most in a single season in franchise history. Later that winter, he would be off to the west coast.
Willy Adames’ Giants career got off to a rough start before his recent hot streak.
One of the biggest questions for fans after their team signs someone to a big contract is how long it will take the player to live up to it. Adames didn’t have a great answer to that question early on.
To say he struggled to find his footing on offense to start the season would be an understatement. His start hit a low point on June 7 where he found himself hitless in his last 18 at-bats and hitting just .193 with a .584 OPS and 68 wRC+. He also had just five homers and 31 RBIs in 65 games, far less production than expected.
Adames would end up getting the following day off combined with an off day to reset things. Apparently that was the magic potion because he has found himself ever since.
Adames would collect hits in eight of his next ten games with homers in three of them. From June into July, he would pick up an eight-game hitting streak. Up to this point, his has hit .296 with a .900 OPS and 152 wRC+ in 28 games since those 48 hours off.
On the season, he has raised his batting average 29 points, his OPS by 91 points, and his wRC+ by 40 points since July 11. And it all happened when it mattered most for the team.
Adames wasn’t the only big time acquisition for the Giants this offseason. They also signed future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander to bolster their rotation. Combined with last year’s additions of infielder Matt Chapman and starter Robbie Ray, there were no doubts that San Francisco planned to be competitive this year.
Then as Adames and other members of the offense struggled this year, the Giants made another big swing to trade for stud Red Sox hitter Rafael Devers in June. There was no way the team was going to quit on the season.
But even after adding such a big bat, San Francisco needed their shortstop of the future to get back on track if they wanted to be taken seriously as a postseason contender. That’s exactly what’s happened, and not just at a good time in relation to the trade deadline, but in the division as well.
The Giants happen to be streaking (6-4 in last 10) right as the division-leading Dodgers are slumping. L.A. just got swept in back-to-back series by the Astros and Brewers. They’ve won just four of their last ten, the same as the third-place Padres.
San Francisco has certain attributes of teams that can make moves in the playoffs, particularly a strong pitching staff and players who can move the needle on offense. Having a more consistent offense overall, though – they are currently 22nd in MLB at 4.13 runs per game – would bring things to another level.
But that only happens when your best players are firing on all cylinders. Adames is finally doing that now, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Written by
Matt Carroll is a writer for Just Baseball and former site expert at Reviewing the Brew. He studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and currently…