CHICAGO — The Giants signed Willy Adames to a franchise-record contract with the hope that he could impact the game on both sides of the ball. His bat is coming along. His glove remains a concern.
Adames committed two errors in Monday’s 9-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs that brought his total on the year to seven — tied for the most in baseball entering Tuesday. The advanced metrics don’t support Adames either; along with the errors, Adames has been worth -6 defensive runs saved and -5 outs above average. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Adames spoke at length with reporters about his defensive struggles.
“I guess it happens. I didn’t even know it was seven errors,” Adames said. “Just going to continue to work and hopefully not continue to make errors.”
Adames, 29, has been an above-average defensive shortstop for most of his career. From 2019-23, Adames accumulated 28 defensive runs saved and 21 outs above average, making him one of baseball’s better defensive shortstops. In 2024, by contrast, Adames committed 20 errors, the fourth-most among shortstops. His -16 defensive runs saved were the fewest by any shortstop in all of baseball.
During spring training, Adames said his defensive issues boiled down to confidence. Adames shared that he had a three-week period where he lost his confidence, which lines up with the fact that 11 of his 20 errors were in July and August. As far as his recent struggles, Adames said confidence hasn’t been a factor.
“I don’t know. Sometimes it happens. Defense is very different than hitting. When it happens, you can’t do anything,” Adames said. “It’s not like you go 0-for-4, then you go 3-for-4 the next day and you make it up. When you make an error, especially when it costs the game, it makes you feel like [expletive].”
Most of Adames’ errors haven’t been on routine plays, but plays that should have been made regardless.
Against the Milwaukee Brewers, Adames’ throw on the run took first baseman David Villar off the bag, allowing Vinny Capra to reach first base. That error contributed to an eight-run inning for the Brewers that resulted in the Giants’ first loss of the season.
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“There’s a lot of factors that play into it. People only see the error, but they don’t know what happened. You don’t know if the ball was hit hard and it gave you a bad hop,” Adames said. “It’s tough. You have to make the play. There’s no excuse. We expect to make all the plays. That’s why it’s tough when you make two errors in a game.”
Adames isn’t the only defender on the left side of San Francisco’s infield who has been struggling defensively. Matt Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, has committed five errors in his last five games. Chapman committed two errors of his own in Monday’s loss, both of which led directly to runs for the Cubs.
“I’ve seen him at his best. I know that he’s obviously frustrated with the way that he’s going right now like I am as well,” said third baseman Matt Chapman. “The best thing I can say is it’s a long season. He’s been in the league for a long time. He knows what he needs to do. Sometimes, when you start with a new team and you sign a new contract and he wants to come in here and really make an impact, sometimes you put a little extra pressure on yourself — whatever it is.”
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Adames is beginning to look the part of a franchise player on offense. Time will tell if he can do so on defense.
“I know that he’s going to be somebody that’s going to carry this team and really help this team for a long time on both sides of the ball,” Chapman said. “I’m sure there’s some early frustrations, but I think it’s going to be one of those things where we’re all going to look back and look at that as a weird little time in the season. By the time summer rolls around, he’s going to be where he needs to be — and we all will, for sure.”
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