The ‘crazy’ way Jason Adam evolved into Rays’ dominant reliever
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Through the first four seasons of his major-league career, Jason Adam suited up for three different teams, dealt with several injuries, battled inconsistency and pitched in only 79 games (rarely when it mattered), compiling an unimpressive 4.71 ERA.
So, who could have expected his 2022 performance, when he was pursued by the pitching-elite Rays, stepped in as the prime high-leverage reliever, made a team-high 67 appearances, posted a dazzling 1.56 ERA and ranked among the league leaders in several categories? Plus, he earned a spot on the U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic.
“I think I would have believed you,” Adam said. “But I think everybody else would have said you were crazy. I’ve always had confidence, I just felt like I couldn’t put it together completely. So it’s a huge blessing to be in a place that helped me put it together like we did last year.”
Adam, who had been traded twice and dropped from several rosters, including two times by the Cubs in 2021 — “Basically, I got fired twice” — came to the Rays with modest ambition.
“One of my goals was, “Hey, let’s just get a full season in the big leagues’” he said. “Obviously we did that, and it was better than that. So I just really think the word is thankful. Thankful that the Rays gave me opportunity. Thankful they spoke confidence into me. Thankful they gave me little tips that were sustainable for the whole year.”
Interest, but uncertainty
A deep data dive during the long winter led the Rays to make an aggressive push to sign Adam minutes after the lockout ended, but they weren’t sure what to expect, even acknowledging part of the appeal was him still having an option to be sent to the minors.
“I think it’s fair (to say) when we broke camp, we looked at him probably as our last reliever in the bullpen,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Two months into the season, he ended up our most high-leverage pitcher.”
How did that happen?
Adam, 31, credits the team — pitching coach Kyle Snyder, former bullpen coach Stan Boroski, other staff, front office and analytics crew — for having a hand in his emergence.
“If I could take all the credit,” he said, “then I probably would have been able to do it six years ago.”
The Rays suggested some obvious physical changes. One was altering his pitch mix, throwing his change-up and slider more, about equally with his 95 mph fastball. Another was a slight tweak in how he gripped the seams that shifted the movement on certain pitches.
But the biggest was to get him to throw the ball over the plate more, which had been an issue in his past. That, actually, was more of a mental adjustment.
“Easier said than done, but they give you practical tools to do that,” Adam said. “One of them is they just tell you how good your stuff is, if it’s good; they won’t lie to you. But if they believe it’s good swing-and-miss stuff, they’re like, ‘Listen, seriously, throw it in the zone. And it’s going to work out.’”
Plus, the Rays presented Adam with data showing how it will work, which created the necessary buy-in.
“I’m not, like, a big fluff, fake-confidence guy,” Adam said. “I feel like I gain confidence when I know what the facts are and I know that I’m prepared.”
Then he saw, even in some spring outings, that what the Rays suggested worked.
“It’s almost like throwing a pitch down the middle and you flinch because you think it’s going to come right back at you and (the hitters) miss,” Adam said. “And you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, maybe they really are what they say they are.’”
For every action
There also was some circumstance that led to Adam’s ascension.
Andrew Kittredge and J.P. Feyereisen, two of the Rays’ more experienced high-leverage relievers, were lost for the season to injuries in early June. Another, Pete Fairbanks, wouldn’t return until mid-July.
Adams’ breakout performance — with 52 of the 67 appearances scoreless and 42 hitless — netted him several benefits in addition to the “huge honor” of the WBC invite.
He earned $250,000 in incentives on top of his $900,000 salary, another $303,534 from a new league bonus pool for pre-arbitration players, and a raise to $1.775 million after beating the Rays in a hearing his first time through arbitration.
That made it easier for Adam and his wife, Kelsey, to buy their first true home in the Kansas City area, as their growing family — with a fourth daughter due in July — split previous offseasons between their parents’ houses in Missouri and Delaware.
Plus, he got the security of arriving at camp for the first time assured of a big-league job, rather than “feeling like I’m fighting for my life.” Residually, Adam thinks taking it easier in March will keep him fresher in October.
All of which leads to another question: What will he do for an encore this season?
“Hitters now know me better, so I have to kind of try to stay ahead of the curve and adjust. Not over-tinker, but there are adjustments that need to be made so that we can have sustained success,” Adam said.
“You don’t want to just coast now that you’ve had one good year. The goal is to string together 10 good years or whatever.”
The Rays way
Jason Adam’s one season with the Rays was much better than his four with the Royals, Jays and Cubs. Here are comparisons of some key stats
Stat 2018-21 2022
Games 79 67
ERA 4.71 1.56
Avg./OPS .222/.756 .147/.471
Saves/Opps 0/3 8/12
Inherited runners/ scored 33/17 31/3
WHIP 1.315 0.758
Strike Pct. 59.3 67.1
Walk Pct. 11.4 7.2
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