Why did the SF Giants add Willy Adames? A deep dive into the numbers

Willy Adames has never been an All-Star. He has never won a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger. The top of his Baseball Reference page — a space reserved for a player’s awards and accolades — is barren.

So, why is he soon to own the largest contract in Giants franchise history? In short, he has been really good for a long time.

Adames has been a consensus top-10 shortstop for the last half-decade, one who does a little bit of everything. He’s a testament to the quote, “Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” Adames alone doesn’t elevate the Giants to contention but he inches San Francisco in that direction. If the Giants can beef up their starting rotation, too, a trip to the playoffs next season is in the cards.

Let’s take a look at five numbers that help illustrate why San Francisco signed Adames:

20.1

Since Adames made his debut, only nine players have accrued at least 20 WAR (per FanGraphs) as primary shortstops: Francisco Lindor, Trea Turner, Marcus Semien, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Dansby Swanson, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Adames.

Adames has been a bit overshadowed in the shortstop discussion for his entire career. The 29-year-old isn’t just playing in a golden age of shortstops, but he has spent his career tucked away in Tampa Bay and Milwaukee.

Last season, Adames finished with a career-best 4.8 WAR. The only primary shortstops who finished above him were Elly De La Cruz (6.4), Lindor (7.8), Gunnar Henderson (8.0) and Bobby Witt Jr. (10.4) — the elite of the elite.

140

Since 2019, Adames’ first full year in the majors, the 29-year-old’s 140 home runs rank fourth among primary shortstops. He has averaged 28 homers over the last four seasons and hit a career-high 32 homers in his final year in Milwaukee.

Those aren’t insignificant numbers for a team still searching for its first 30-homer season since Barry Bonds in 2004.

Trivia aside, the Giants had middle-of-the-pack power last season. Their 177 homers were tied with the Brewers for 16th while their .396 slugging percentage ranked 15th. San Francisco could benefit from even more power, but Adames provides the lineup with pop.

Adames doesn’t hit the ball abnormally hard (40th percentile exit velocity in 2024) but knows how to elevate. Last season, Adames’ average launch angle of 20.6 ranked 13th among qualified hitters.

For what it’s worth, Adames has hit well at Oracle Park in a limited sample size. In 16 games, Adames owns a .321/.381/.446 slash line with two homers and nine RBIs.

47.6%

San Francisco’s pitchers like to put the ball on the ground. They’ve led the league in ground ball rate every season for the last four seasons, amounting to a 47.6% ground ball rate from 2021-24. Since 2021, Logan Webb (59.0%) is only second to Framber Valdez (62.4%) in this department (Tyler Rogers ranks fifth at 54.8%).

Adames has never won a Gold Glove, but he has been one of baseball’s better defenders at shortstop. From 2018-23, Adames has been worth 20 defensive runs saved and 14 outs above average. He’s not as elite defensively as Brandon Crawford, who had multiple seasons of at least 20 defensive runs saved, but he’s a plus glove.

Last season, though, was an aberration. Adames finished his final season in Milwaukee with -16 defensive runs saved, by far the worst single-season mark of his career. That could very well end up being an aberration — Adames had -8 defensive runs saved as a rookie — but it’s worth monitoring how he fares defensively.

Pairing Adames with Matt Chapman, who recently won his fifth Gold Glove Award, will make Giants pitchers happy — and could lure some arms to San Francisco.

21

Adames wasn’t a volume base stealer for most of his career, swiping just 30 bags on 48 attempts from 2018-23. During that span, the most he had in a single season was eight.

Those baserunning tendencies changed during his final season in Milwaukee. Adames stole 21 bases on 25 attempts, turning in the second 20/20 season (and first 30/20 season) in franchise history by a shortstop, the other belonging to Hall of Famer Robin Yount.

Adames’ average sprint speed has dipped in recent years, going from 28.7 feet per second in 2019 to 27.4 feet per second in ’24, but elite speed is not a prerequisite to swiping bags.

Chapman, interestingly enough, saw a similar uptick in both volume and success. Despite being one of baseball’s faster runners, Chapman had 11 steals on 23 attempts from 2017-23. In ‘24, Chapman stole 15 bases on 17 attempts.

Last season, the Giants finished 29th in stolen bases (68) and were one of four teams that failed to attempt at least 100 steals. With the addition of Adames and the return of Jung Hoo Lee, San Francisco stands to see an uptick in stolen bases.

7.1

In 2021, Brandon Crawford had one of the best seasons by a Giants shortstop this millennium. He hit .298 with 24 homers, 90 RBIs and 11 steals, finishing fourth in NL MVP voting and winning his fourth Gold Glove. For all that, he was worth 6.2 WAR.

Since then, San Francisco’s shortstops have collectively produced 7.1 WAR over the last three seasons.

The Giants’ list of shortstops from 2022-24 makes for excellent Immaculate Grid material, featuring Crawford, Tyler Fitzgerald, Thairo Estrada, Brett Wisely, Marco Luciano, Nick Ahmed, Mauricio Dubón, Dixon Machado, Jason Vosler, Johan Camargo, Paul DeJong, Casey Schmitt and Donovan Walton.

Correa never donned the black and orange and Luciano’s reign at shortstop never really began (though it certainly did end). With Adames, San Francisco should be set at shortstop for the foreseeable future.