David Adams

6'2", 205 LBs

Bats-R

Throws- R

Background: David Adams was the Yankees 3^rd round selection in the 2008 draft. The 2^ndbaseman from the University of Virginia was viewed as a draft dropper due to the dip in performance from his exciting sophomore year. He managed to hit .344/.428/.485 during his first two seasons at UVA but senior year, as a potential first round pick, hit just .286/.384/.411 his junior year. The Yankees however had their eye on Adams and believed they located the flaw in his swing which represented the drop in production.

Adams is a self described “scrappy guy” who “works hard and gets after it on and off the field”.  It’s hard to not draw comparisons with Dustin Pedrioa when Adams says things like “I feel I am a great baseball player….I think I am one of the best hitters around”. The most common refrain thrown around with David Adams is that he’s a confident/cocky, very serious hard worker. That's certainly not a bad thing.

2008

Adams went to work right away, saying that he wanted to get right to work and sign as soon as possible to put his lackluster 2008 campaign behind him. He spent much of the season in Staten Island adjusting to the new swing he was working on as well as learning to hit with a wooden bat. He worked most of all on driving the ball to the left-center gap, an area he rarely used much as his tried to take anything that was middle away to right field. This was done mainly to regain some power in his swing. Adams hit .257/.350/.393 in 257 ABs, with 19 2Bs, 2 3Bs, and 4 HRs. He also stole 8 bases and walked 11% of the time. Adams exhibits more quickness than speed which showed up in his solid defense- according to Sean Smith’s minor league ZR, Adams was 10 runs above average per 150 games. The early signs for Adams were good and he headed into 2009 with a retooled swing and coupled with his developing power and natural plate discipline, there was a lot to look forward too.

2009

Adams put even more work into his swing with Staten Island hitting coach Ty Hawkins and it showed early signs of paying off in the spring. Adams impressed everyone, regularly stroking extra base hits through March. His confidence and comfortable new swing paid off in a big way in 2009.

Adams had a split season, starting in Charleston before moving up to Tampa after the all-star break. His Charleston stint was good, where he hit .290/.385/.394 with 23 2Bs, 2 3Bs and 8 SBs in 259 ABs. But his stint in Tamp was even better. Adams hit .281/.360/.498 with 17 2Bs, 6 3Bs and 7 HRs. Adams maintained his good plate discipline, walking over 10% of the time and actually cut down his strike outs, to about 17% of his ABs. The lack of HRs which seemed so strange in Charleston suddenly showed up in an eruption of power in Tampa- Adams still posted a 142 wRC+ according to fangraphs, which is league adjusted. He bumped his ISO nearly 100 points and his defense was about the same- 5 runs above average per 150 innings.

Future

Adams has a lot of potential. The power which was developed this year may just be a precursor of things to come. He has good natural loft to his swing and possesses a strong frame. His 40+ doubles in 2009 along with the 8 triples and 7 home runs are good indications he’s starting to find success driving the ball. Along with his defensive improvements, natural quickness and instincts, Adams might be more than the low ceiling guy he’s always been labeled as.

I would assume Adams would start in Trenton in 2010. He still has plenty to work on in terms of defense and repeating his strong 2009 performance at the plate will go a long way to seeing what sort of future he may have. Adams is another guy who should be watched closely in 2010- the jump to AA can make or break a guys career and watching Adams will be fascinating in 2010.