Brewers' Willy Adames trying to work through a slump he calls the 'worst time of my career'
In the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday at American Family Field, Willy Adames swung through a first-pitch changeup from Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Johan Oviedo. Oviedo followed with a hanging slider and Adames swung and missed again. Then Adames whiffed at the next pitch, a fastball.
On his way back to the dugout from a three-pitch strikeout, the latest hitch in what has been a prolonged malady at the plate, Adames swung his bat violently through the air in a rare display of frustration.
Adames, 27, is in the midst of a prolonged slump that Monday he called “the worst time in my career” on offense. In the second half, he’s batting 13 for 83 with four extra-base hits and a .484 OPS.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Adames has handled the slump as well as anyone could, but after the latest series of frustrations in an 0 for 4 showing Sunday, decided it was time to give his shortstop a day off – his first of the season that wasn’t due to injury.
“It’s time,” Counsell said. “There’s times for players where the day off is better than playing and this is one of those days. He’s struggling and mentally I think you just don’t have to go up there and fix it today. Just a day off from trying to do that and get out of that cycle where you feel like you have to do that, it helps your mental state.”
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Adames has been unable to find answers on offense
With a 7:10 p.m. game against the Colorado Rockies on the schedule, Adames didn’t get to the ballpark Monday until 4 p.m., 2 ½ hours later than he reports on a usual day, on manager’s directions to take as much time away from the field as possible.
“I felt bad, too. I felt so weird,” Adames said. “I was checking the clock, it was 3:45, feeling guilty, feeling like I did something wrong. It’s not a good look – it looks if you get here at this time like you’re not respecting your teammates. I don’t like to do it but I’m just following orders.”
Adames has been on the field and in the cage for early hitting work regularly over his slump, which has worsened with a 6 for 39 stretch with 11 strikeouts and a .412 OPS in his last 10 games.
“You try different stuff to see what clicks,” Adames said. “I’m just hoping for that click. I feel like I haven’t found it, haven’t been consistent. I’ve been having one good day at the plate and then it just goes away. I haven’t had whole week where it’s like, ‘OK I’m feeling great this week.’ It’s been like one or two days then it’s gone for two weeks. Then it comes back for one day and it’s gone ahead. I’m like, ‘What the heck?’”
Adames snapped his fingers when speaking to emphasize just how quickly he’s lost any sense of rhythm with the bat.
Adames frustrated by how his struggles have impacted the Brewers
Adames is not alone in the Brewers clubhouse as someone who hasn’t performed how he – or the team, frankly – expected this season. Milwaukee has the worst team OPS and batting average in the National League and has scored the third-fewest runs. The Brewers have gotten minimal production from multiple other key spots, including first base, designated hitter and right field, for most of the season.
That doesn’t detract from how impactful the struggles from Adames, expected to be a middle of the order bat who hit 31 homers last year – have been.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve had days when I’m not feeling great because I want to help the team do better,” Adames said. “I feel like if I was doing better, we would be in a better spot. But I’m trying to stay the same.”
Adames expects to be back in the lineup Tuesday for the second game of the three-game series between the Brewers and Rockies. When he does, the Brewers, in spite of a lack of offensive production, will still be in first place in the division.
“I know,” Adames said. “Somehow. We have to keep it there.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' Willy Adames gets day off during worst slump of career
