ON Top 50 Prospects - #13: Ryan Adams

Published by Jordan Tuwiner on April 4, 2011

Ryan Adams was sent home for disciplinary reasons during 2009 and hadn’t been able to prove himself above the South Atlantic League because his season was cut short. When the Orioles jumped Adams to Bowie after just 59 games at Frederick, Adams was out to show what he can do with the bat, which some have compared to Brian Roberts.

Outstanding hip rotation and quick wrists give Adams tremendous gap power evidenced by his 43 doubles at Bowie last season. With 15 home runs for the Baysox, it’s clear some of this gap power has turned into home run power, but 15 is probably the ceiling for Adams’ home run totals.

Although he’s played all over the diamond, Adams is a well below-average defender and seemed lost in the field at times. He played mostly second base for the Baysox but, because of his limited range, the Orioles have stuck him at third base where they feel his instincts and slightly above-average arm will boost his defensive value.

If third base is going to be Adams’ home down the line he’ll need to prove he has the bat for the position. His bat control and ability to hit to all fields are pluses, but he still needs to prove he can cut down the strikeouts, consistently get on base — which he did very well with Bowie — and take a few more pitches.

His breakout season at Bowie was enough for him to beat out Greg Miclat for an infield job with the Tides. If Adams continues to murder the baseball like he did in 2010, we could see him in Baltimore sometime in 2011 if one of their infielders go down with an injury.

Career Statistics

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006	19	Bluefield	APPY	Rk	BAL	34	156	133	24	34	8	1	2	7	2	2	19	32	.256	.361	.376	.737
2006	19	Aberdeen	NYPL	A-	BAL	6	24	19	2	6	3	0	1	5	0	0	4	7	.316	.458	.632	1.090
2007	20	Aberdeen	NYPL	A-	BAL	67	272	246	29	58	10	2	3	22	8	3	18	63	.236	.296	.329	.626
2008	21	Delmarva	SALL	A	BAL	119	497	448	68	138	26	5	11	57	12	5	36	109	.308	.367	.462	.829
2009	22	Frederick	CARL	A+	BAL	59	235	215	27	62	14	0	2	25	2	4	19	41	.288	.349	.381	.730
2010	23	Bowie	EL	AA	BAL	134	594	530	81	158	43	0	15	68	2	3	47	121	.298	.365	.464	.829
5 Seasons						419	1778	1591	231	456	104	8	34	184	26	17	143	373	.287	.354	.426	.780