Could Adams' improvements lead to more playing time?

PLAYER REVIEW: RILEY ADAMS

Age on Opening Day 2024: 27

How acquired: Traded from Blue Jays for Brad Hand, July 2021

MLB service time: 2 years, 50 days

2023 salary: $728,800

Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2025, free agent in 2028

2023 stats: 44 G, 158 PA, 143 AB, 8 R, 39 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 0 SB, 0 CS, 11 BB, 45 SO, .273 AVG, .331 OBP, .476 SLG, .807 OPS, 120 OPS+, -4 DRS, 1.0 bWAR, 0.4 fWAR

Quotable: “I’m certainly happy with the work I’ve been able to put in. I’ve made some good changes going from last year into this one. There’s more stuff I’m going to look to build on for next year. I know there’s a lot of room for improvement, and certainly areas I can improve upon. This year was a good step in the right direction. And I know there’s more in the tank.” – Riley Adams

2023 analysis: Adams entered this season in the exact same situation he entered the 2022 season: As the clear No. 2 catcher on the roster to Keibert Ruiz, with playing time likely to be limited to once or twice a week tops. Slowly but surely, his opportunities increased as this year played out. Why? Because his performance merited it.

After starting only five of the Nationals’ first 31 games, Adams appeared in 27 of their next 93. And during that stretch from May 10-Aug. 19, he batted a healthy .337/.400/.621, notching 17 RBIs over 105 plate appearances (the equivalent of 102 over a full, 162-game season). He did so by becoming a doubles machine, notching 11 of those during that same timeframe (the equivalent of a whopping 66 over a full season). He even recorded two triples to go along with four homers.

By this point, Davey Martinez sought ways to include both Adams and Ruiz in the lineup on the same days. That usually came to fruition with Ruiz serving as designated hitter, with Adams catching. He actually wound up more effective at stopping the run game than Ruiz, with 9-of-32 basestealers caught while he was behind the plate.

The extra playing time may have started to take its toll, though. Adams really struggled down the stretch, going 3-for-29 with one double, one walk and 13 strikeouts in 12 games between Aug. 22-Sept. 6. Then came a painful swing against the Mets, during which he fractured the hamate bone in his left hand. It required surgery, ending what had been an encouraging `season four weeks early.

2024 outlook: The hamate injury, while frustrating, shouldn’t have much impact on Adams as he enters next season. Recovery time is typically six-to-eight weeks, so that’s more than enough time to get him at full strength by the start of spring training. There is often a concern about a lack of power in the first several months back from this particular injury, so that’s something to watch pre-All-Star break.

With the Nationals having fully committed to Ruiz as their No. 1 catcher for years to come, Adams figures to be right back in the same spot in 2024. Depending on what other moves they make, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Martinez continues to find opportunities to use Ruiz as DH and give Adams more starts behind the plate. It’ll be up to him to keep producing enough to warrant the extra playing time.

How did Adams become a better hitter this season? He started making more consistently solid contact, his line drive rate shooting way up from 18.8 percent to 34 percent while his ground ball rate plummeted from 44.8 to 34 percent. He also used the opposite field far more successfully, hitting .423 and slugging .654 on balls hit to right field (those numbers were a paltry .067 and .133 in 2022).

For those who have wondered for two years whether the Nats ever intend to try Adams at first base, the answer appears to be no. Despite some attempts to get him comfortable at the position early in 2022 (and one emergency appearance there after Lucius Fox’s infamous vomiting incident in the top of the first one afternoon), the team has all but abandoned those plans. Adams is a catcher, plain and simple.