TEMPE, Ariz. — It was five years ago that Jordyn Adams’ decision became one of the most intriguing storylines surrounding the MLB Draft. He was a four-star wide receiver signee at North Carolina, and a No. 17 overall pick by the Angels. Adams was not dissimilar to Kyler Murray, who was picked eight spots earlier in 2018 before opting to become an NFL quarterback.
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At the time, Adams said in a Baseball America interview that football came more naturally to him. Baseball, he noted, was a game of failure. “Baseball is hard,” the then-high school senior stated.
Fast forward five years. Adams chose baseball over football — a decision he says now, looking back, wasn’t difficult. But he’s had to face those failures head-on. Equipped with every athletic tool, Adams still has to show he can be a high-level professional ballplayer. Because the flashes of greatness and his various tools have been overshadowed by an inability to find consistent offensive success.
“Now my mindset is: Just do what I’ve got to do to get to the big leagues,” Adams said in an interview this week. “My mentality is now just to keep going.”
Adams’ trajectory can, at best, be described as a slow crawl upward. The 23-year-old was promoted to Double A for the first time last season but struck out in 29.7 percent of his 236 plate appearances with Rocket City.
And that’s the hindrance to Adams’ game. He stole 33 bases last year. His defense is extremely good. You could put him on an MLB playoff roster right now as a base-swiper or defensive replacement. But his lack of contact and lack of power — Adams had just four homers and a .649 OPS last year — are holding him back from fulfilling that first-round promise.
“He’s probably our most athletic player in this system. He can really play defense,” said Angels farm director Joey Prebynski. “He can really run the bases. For Jordyn, it’s just continuing to get better at the plate and having more consistent at-bats.”
Prebynski’s comments came almost exactly a year ago. That illustrates how the outlook on Adams both has and has not evolved. He’s a player who has all the tools to be good. In 2020 and 2021, Adams was MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 Angels prospect. In 2022, he dropped to No. 20. The Athletic’s Keith Law dropped Adams from the Angels’ No. 7 prospect in 2022 to No. 13 in 2023.
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It’s not that Adams has gotten worse. It’s that his offense just hasn’t come around. Adams told reporters a year ago that he felt more ready to mentally commit to being an actual baseball player. Not just an athlete who happens to play baseball.
And a year later, Adams feels as though he stuck to that commitment. His offensive statistics did improve, though marginally.
“I feel like I have grown into that baseball player mindset that I was telling you about a year ago,” Adams said. “I feel like that helps my game all around. From a defensive standpoint, to at the plate, to approach, stuff like that. I also worked on it this offseason from a mental aspect. Because that work never stops.”
For Adams, that meant spending time around veteran players over the offseason. He hit with Royals infielder Nicky Lopez and Blue Jays infielder Matt Chapman, a former All-Star. He said he was purposeful about picking their brains as much as possible.
The offense is the missing piece. Adams doesn’t need to hit for lots of power. He just needs to put the ball in play more. His elite speed will assist in making his offense more valuable. The strikeouts remain a huge hindrance.
“Now it’s just being on time,” Adams said. “Being able to handle any pitch in the zone, stuff like that. I simplified my swing. Cut a lot of fat out of my swing. I feel great about it. I feel confident as well.”
The swing change that Adams alluded to has been an ever-present part of his development. Law wrote in The Athletic last month that Adams’ swing is very inconsistent, sometimes shifting within a game from at-bat to at-bat.
Adams said he actually preferred hitting in Double A because pitchers tend to be more around the plate. He did have a higher OPS in Double A, and his year-over-year strikeout numbers declined last season, though remain quite high.
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Adams has gotten a couple of looks as a replacement in spring training games this camp, his first on the major-league side. He’ll likely get some starts in the outfield when other regulars leave to compete in the World Baseball Classic.
“I just want to see him play,” said Angels manager Phil Nevin. “I know he’s athletic, he’s talented. He needs to play. Our (player development) staff has done a really good job with him. I think he’s learning a lot this spring, being around some really good players. I like him. I like the energy.”
When Adams looks back on his 2018 decision now, he said it wasn’t a hard one, it was a “no-brainer.” Certainly not as complicated as he believes some have made it out to be.
As he said earlier this week and has said numerous times before, baseball was his first sport. The first game he loved. A sport he started playing at just 3 years old.
It’s also a sport that he hopes to play at the highest level. But questions remain over whether he can put all those tools together and actually make it happen.
“Going through the difficult stages, at first, coming into pro ball, was kind of hard,” Adams said. “Because I’m not used to really struggling like that. I think that helped me grow as a player, to the player I am today.”
(Top photo of Adams: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)
