Yankees former top prospect Chance Adams’ time may be up
Although initially showing great promise, it is now clear that Yankees Chance Adams has not turned into the successful pitcher everyone expected.
Included in the current overall list of terrific young prospects, the Yankees have an impressive cluster of young pitchers waiting in the wings. Most recently, Deivi Garcia joined that group and has received a lot of attention.
Garcia and other young star throwers (e.g., Michael King) are in line to join the likes of Luis Severino, Domingo German, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Cessa, and Jonathan Loaisiga at the big league level.
Only 19-years-old, Garcia already has a low to mid-90s mph fastball, an excellent curveball with a lot of spin, and effective command of his pitches.
The Yanks expected Chance Adams would be part of the future pitching mix. However, employed primarily as a starter in the minors, he has been a disappointment coming out of the bullpen for the Yanks in 2019. It very well may be time for the Bombers to part ways with this once rising star.
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Chance Adams’ record
After one year at Dallas Baptist University, Adams was drafted by the Yanks in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2015 MLB Draft. His professional career began by playing for the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League. He quickly advanced through the minors due to his consistently superb pitching performance.
In 2017, the right-hander pitched for the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League. He amassed a 15-5 record and a 2.45 ERA in 150 1/3 innings between both teams.
Adams made his MLB debut on August 4, 2018, with the Bombers. He pitched in three games during the season and went 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA in 7.1 innings pitched. Adams gave up eight hits, six earned runs, three home runs, and four walks. Overall, a mixed record.
He went up and down between the RailRiders and the Yanks in 2019. In 18 games with the RailRiders (15 as a starter), he had a 4-4 record with a 4.63 ERA. He struck out 80 batters but walked 38 in 81.2 innings pitched. Compared to his previous performance in the minor leagues, these were not impressive numbers.
Also in 2019, he pitched 25.1 innings and had a 1-1 record (plus one save) with the Yanks. Unfortunately, he gave up seven home runs, 24 earned runs, and 39 hits. Although he struck out 23 batters, he walked 15 hitters, too.
The 25-year-old’s struggles were on full display in the first game of the season-ending three-game series with the Texas Rangers this past Friday.
Adams entered at the beginning of the ninth inning with the Bombers leading 14-3 against a light-hitting Ranger team — certainly a young reliever’s dream scenario. Adams struck out one batter but gave up four hits, including two home runs (both over 400 feet), and 4 earned runs.
With a seemingly endless parade of Rangers circling the base paths and only one out, Nester Cortes had to be summoned to rescue Adams — which he did in three pitches. Adams left the game with a 14-7 lead and a massive 8.53 ERA for the 2019 season.
At this point, the Bombers need to decide what to do with Adams. Of course, sending him down again to the minors and letting him work on his mechanics, velocity, and pitch location is one option if the club feels that his performance can return to the level it was in the minors in previous years.
Or, perhaps more desirable for the Yanks, they can use him as a “throw in” player in a multi-player trade during the offseason. I anticipate that the latter is more likely to happen.