Willy Adames (2B/SS, TB) - Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 19% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Tampa Bay Rays infielder Willy Adames has been quietly having a solid turnaround to his season after a rough first month. He hit .284 in May and has already hit two home runs in June. The Rays have bounced him around in their lineup a lot throughout the season, but lately, he’s seen more time in the middle third of the lineup as opposed to the bottom third, which is encouraging. He picked up two more hits and added a stolen base on Tuesday for good measure.

The two red flags we’ve seen from Adames since his call-up to the majors last year have been his strikeouts and his inconsistency. He started out the 2019 campaign by going 1-for-37 and in 2018, he hit .157 in July before closing the season strong by hitting .318 in August and .341 in September. As for the strikeouts, Adames just doesn’t offer enough upside in other categories to make up for his current 27% strikeout rate this year, which is actually a slight improvement on his 29.4% strikeout rate in 2018. He either needs to add more power to make up for that high strikeout rate or lower the rate and increase his contact numbers to make him a more steady batting average contributor.

In AL-only leagues and 14+ team leagues, he’s a worthy add for some of the upward trends he’s shown in the past month, but don’t race to the waiver wire to add him or drop someone who may offer more upside. In leagues with fewer than 14 teams, leave him out there unless he starts to go on more of a streak.