Jake Adams - June 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
On my recent trip to Fayetteville, I sat down with the big slugger for the first time, and it was fun to meet a player who hails from my home state of South Dakota since pro ball isn't exactly teaming with players from the Mount Rushmore State. Adams was drafted by the Astros in the sixth round in 2017 out of the University of Iowa, but in the offseason, he still calls South Dakota home and enjoys spending time with his family and fiance there, "I love hanging out with family. I'm a big family guy. Hang out with the fiance obviously. I'm a big outdoorsman so I love to go hunting, love to go fishing. That's what I look forward to the most after the season's done just to see the family again, see the fiance and get out in the tree stand and go hunting right away."
Adams has been working hard both offensively and defensively over the last couple of years. "My first year when I got drafted, I changed my swing. I struggled a little bit out in Tri-City (in 2017) but the biggest thing has just been working on my swing here in the last couple of years and in the offseason to get that as tight as I possibly can. That's been working really well for me. Just keep up with that. And defensively, a lot of scouts during draft time said that I probably wasn't going to be a first baseman. I was probably just going to be a DH. I was too big, too slow, didn't have good hands so I really wanted to prove them wrong. So in the offseason, that was the biggest thing the last two years has been working on my defense and then this year, the transition over to third base just to open up some extra things for me. It's been working out and hopefully I can keep that going."
Continuous improvement in those areas is still Adam's primary focus. "There's always room to improve on your swing and defensively, but if I can really tighten up my swing and put a lot more balls harder in play, I think it's going to play a lot better up in the next couple levels. And then defensively, just keep doing what I'm doing, just keep getting better every single day. I'm doing early work and keep making those reads and I think that's really going to help me throughout the next couple years. There's always something you can work on. Even the guys up in the big leagues, they go and work on something every single day to get better at the game. Even though right now I'm succeeding here at this level, I know at the next level, I've got to keep getting better so I can keep moving," said Adams.
Fayetteville Manager Nate Shaver was very complimentary of the strides Adams has made defensively this season, saying that he has improved quite a bit at both first base and third base, which is a new position for Adams this year. Shaver specifically noted his athleticism which Adams said surprises some, "A guy my size being able to do the splits. That's probably something that you don't see from big guys like me and that's something that's really surprised a lot of people here. I know there's a lot of talk that I should be in gymnastics because over at first base, reaching for some balls and doing the splits impresses a lot of people."
In addition to his baseball skills, Adams likes to bring a positive vibe to the ballpark every day. "I'm a big team guy. Even if I'm struggling, I love to still have fun because it's a long season. And obviously being away from your family, it can really take a toll on you if you're struggling and you're beating yourself down. So I just come positive every single day, have fun with the guys because this is your family during the six month span or whatever that you're out here. I think that's the biggest thing for me is just being positive every single day, coming out and just having fun playing the game," said Adams.
And that would be his advice to the current draft picks just starting their careers as well, "I would say find a positive every single day because it's hard coming out every single day and having a lot of success. So when you go out there, just find something throughout the day, could be something very little, find something that is really positive and something that you can look back on and (say), 'OK, my day's not so bad.' It's just those little things that are going to help you out in the long (run)."
One thing that I noticed in my time at Fayetteville is something that I've seen more and more in the Astros system the last few years. There is more camaraderie between the Latin players and the non-Latin players than I once saw in my early years of writing. All of the players seem to make more of an effort to really get to know each other despite any differences in background. I definitely saw this in Adams and when I mentioned it to him, he said, "Some of my closer friends are some of these Latin guys. They bring a lot of energy every single day. Even if they're down from the previous day, they still have a smile on their face and they're ready to come to work. It's always fun. (Jonathan) Arauz and I ... we're kind of brothers. We like to goof around, laughing at each other. It's been really fun to get to know how they play their game compared to ours so it's been a fun experience." It makes sense that a player who wants to bring positive energy to the field appreciates those same qualities in others.
Thank you for your time, Jake, and best of luck as the season continues to unfold.
Other Recent Interviews
Nivaldo Rodriguez (recently added to MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list for the Astros) and Enmanuel Valdez
Colton Shaver
Brett Conine
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