Ryan Adams had a big year at bat for Bowie

There have been some questions, at times, about his defense, but Ryan Adams can hit. The 23-year-old, O's second-round pick out of Louisiana high school in 2006 hammered that point home big time this year at Double-A Bowie. At times, he hammered Eastern League pitching, batting .298-15-68 with 43 doubles and an .829 OPS. Adams led or tied for the league lead in hits, doubles and extra-base hits and finished tied for 8th in batting average. "Feel like the season went well. I put a lot of hard work into the off season. I wanted to come in and have a good year and I set my goals high. "Just working hard every day in the off season. I came into camp motivated to be successful and want to show the organization what I can do. "This year is the first year I've put it all together, but still a long way to go." Adams' bat really heated up after the All-Star break when he hit .324-8-27 with 17 doubles in 204 at bats. He was named a post-season Eastern League All-Star. "It's a huge honor, the first time I've been an All-Star. It feels good but the big picture is to get to the big leagues. It's nice, but I have a long ways to go. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well at times. After the break, I just kind of found a comfort zone and things started clicking. You have a good week or two and you really relax at the plate." Adams has hit well in recent years, batting .308 two years ago at Delmarva and .288 last year at Frederick, but this was his best season. Now the right-handed hitter heads out soon to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. "It's a tremendous honor. You look at the guys that have gone to the fall league before. It's a crazy rate of guys that go there, go to the big leagues. It's a huge honor and I'm excited." As for his defense, Adams hears the criticism, but doesn't feel it's completely justified. He played second base for Bowie and also played some third base late in the year. "I can be very good defensively. I know some people have criticized me there. There was one season where I made of lot errors and was having trouble with the double play. I had one game (in Delmarva) where I made like six errors and things spiraled downhill after that. "I was playing out there not to make errors instead of being aggressive and not worrying about it. It took me a while to get over that, but I am over that now. "We brought in great infield instructors like Bobby Dickerson and Mike Bordick and they have helped me tremendously. This year I've made tremendous strides out there. "I admit I had one bad year. But that doesn't mean every year will be a bad year. I am only going to get better through more and more repetition. "I read that stuff and it kind of motivates me to work harder, you know."