{"id":541,"date":"2026-05-26T15:08:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T15:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541"},"modified":"2026-05-26T15:08:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T15:08:45","slug":"sf-giants-adames-latest-error-highlights-his-early-defensive-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541","title":{"rendered":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Casey Schmitt can be excused for failing to catch Ketel Marte\u2019s fifth-inning fly ball during the Giants\u2019\u00a0 6-2 loss Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=539\">Two South Bay office buildings are bought for more than $300 million<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Schmitt has only played 43 professional innings in left field, all of them coming in the last week-and-a-half. He hadn\u2019t played the position since high school, but when Heliot Ramos hit the injured list, Schmitt picked up an outfielder\u2019s glove to keep his bat in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>The fly ball he failed to catch would\u2019ve been a difficult play for any left fielder, an awkward in-between ball that required him to either go all out or peel back early. Instead, the ball bounced in front of him, then rolled right past him. It\u2019s a tough play to practice, and experience is the best teacher.<\/p>\n<div><video>https:\/\/sporty-clips.mlb.com\/MnI0clFfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFCVlhBY0NBd0FBWGdFQVVnQUhBUVFIQUFNRVVWZ0FDZ2RUQ1ZFTUJGWlRWQUlI.mp4<\/video><\/div>\n<p>Unlike Schmitt, Willy Adames, a full-time shortstop, cannot be afforded the same grace.<\/p>\n<p>With none on and none out in the top of the fifth, the Diamondbacks\u2019 Tommy Troy hit a routine grounder toward Adames\u2019 direction. Adames kneeled down to field the ball, his knee not quite touching the ground, then rose and fired. First baseman Rafael Devers leaped, but the ball sailed into the first-base dugout.<\/p>\n<p>Even the six-foot-seven Bryce Eldridge would\u2019ve had a hard time making contact with the ball, let alone catching it.<\/p>\n<p>The error was Adames\u2019 ninth of the season, the most of any defender in the majors, and it set the table for the Diamondbacks to score three runs in the fifth. Combine the errors with Adames\u2019 -7 outs above average (a range-based stat) and the cold reality is that Adames has graded out as one of the worst defenders in the majors.<\/p>\n<p>And while he stuck around and held himself accountable following his baserunning mistake against the Dodgers, Adames left before speaking with reporters Monday following an error that shifted the tone of the afternoon.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div><video>https:\/\/sporty-clips.mlb.com\/MnI0clFfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFnSFhGUlhWbEFBV3dOUUFnQUhWdzVWQUZnQlZGRUFVd0ZRVXd0WEJsZFdWRkZW.mp4<\/video><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s made more than his fair share of SportsCenter plays, and for the most part, has been really good on the average play,\u201d Giants manager Tony Vitello said. \u201cI don\u2019t really know how to describe that one other than a one-hopper, I believe, and probably getting down to a knee is maybe what kind of hurt having his feet. When you\u2019re getting the ball hit to you more than anyone else on the field, it means there\u2019s more chances to make a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=537\">\u2018A glimpse of what she\u2019s capable of\u2019: Inside Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117\u2019s Valkyries debut<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll I know is when he\u2019s locked in, he\u2019s pretty dang good out there. I don\u2019t know why he wouldn\u2019t be locked in right there. He was upset as anybody after the game and into it before the game. I don\u2019t know how you pull a real answer out of that, but it\u2019s our guy. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s our guy, and overall, he\u2019s been very good for us. \u2026 We all want defense to be as consistent as possible, but stuff will pop up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adames went through his share of defensive struggles early last season as well but ultimately ended the year as a net-positive defender.<\/p>\n<p>Following a two-error night against the Chicago Cubs on May 5, 2025, Adames was worth -5 outs above average. Despite last year\u2019s poor start, Adames ended up finishing the season worth +5 outs above average, which ranked in the 89th percentile.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>What\u2019s been most odd about Adames\u2019 subpar defense through 53 games this season have been the types of plays he\u2019s not routinely making.<\/p>\n<p>Adames has always struggled on plays where he has to move laterally toward first base (-33 career outs above average), so it\u2019s not surprising that he\u2019s been worth -4 outs above average on these types of plays this season. What is surprising, however, is how he\u2019s rated on plays where he has to move in.<\/p>\n<p>In his career, Adames has been worth +24 outs above average on plays where he had to come in. Last season, he was worth +8 outs above average on such plays. This season, by contrast, he\u2019s been worth -4 outs above average on these kinds of plays.<\/p>\n<p>Adames also hasn\u2019t been as adept on plays where he has to move laterally toward third base, another type of play he\u2019s historically handled well. In his career, he\u2019s been worth +22 outs above average when moving to his right. This season, he\u2019s at zero.<\/p>\n<p>By season\u2019s end, Adames\u2019 poor start defensively might just be another blip on the radar. But like the team as a whole, which is 22-32 heading into Tuesday night\u2019s game, Adames has a lot of work to do to dig himself out of this hole.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=535\">Saratoga, Los Gatos view potential policing partnership as a win-win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Willy Adames&#8217; nine errors this season are the most in the majors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Willy Adames&#039; nine errors this season are the most in the majors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541\"},\"wordCount\":852,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541\",\"name\":\"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=541#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest","og_description":"Willy Adames' nine errors this season are the most in the majors","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles","datePublished":"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541"},"wordCount":852,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541","name":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-26T15:08:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c36ba054d0f03cd0939de5028c2f9062.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=541#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SF Giants&#8217; Adames&#8217; latest error highlights his early defensive struggles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}