Today’s non-roster invitee profile was still on the Mets’ active roster when we started this series a couple of weeks ago. Austin Adams signed a major league contract with the Mets at the end of November and was outrighted to make room for Jake Diekman on the roster. He’s on a split-deal contract, so he’ll make different amounts depending on if he’s in the majors or minors.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Adams was drafted by the Angels back in 2012 from the University of South Florida. In 2016, he ended up with the Nationals as part of the Danny Espinosa trade and has since bounced around to the Nationals, Padres, Mariners, and Diamondbacks organizations.
Adams had a shortened 2023 campaign due to a fractured ankle. Before landing on the injured list, over 24 games and 17 1/3 innings, Adams had a 5.71 ERA but a 3.72 FIP. That’s a pretty large difference between those stats! He was striking opponents out at a 27.2% rate.
He tossed most of his 114 1/3 career innings back in 2021 when he threw 52 2/3 innings over 65 games as a member of the Padres. That season he had a 4.10 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.196 WHIP with a 95 ERA+. He also managed to league the entire league in hitting batters at 24, despite only throwing slightly above 50 innings. In that season, Adams ranked in the 99th percentile for xBA, 95th for exit velocity, 93rd for whiff percentage, 91st for strikeout percentage and 99th for hard-hit percentage. He was also in the 22nd percentile for Chase% and the 2nd percentile for walks. Control, control, control.
During that 2021 season, Adams threw two types of pitches in games. 87% of the time he tossed a high-80s slider. The rest of the time he threw a low-to-mid-90s fastball.
Given how bullpens are used, we’ll probably see Adams with the major league team at some point this season. The hope is that his heavy slider usage pairs well with the flamethrowers the Mets have added to the bullpen this off-season.
