SAN FRANCISCO — Willy Adames found himself meditating on a mountain in Colorado.
Adames had not been performing well when the Giants flew into Denver for a three-game series against the Rockies in early June. As a hitter, he was below average. As a defender, he was subpar. As a player, he was underperforming.
Amid those struggles, Adames took a mental respite. On June 8, he sat out for the first time all year. On June 9, the Giants had an off day and Adames retreated to the mountains with a close friend, someone who had previously guided him in meditation.
Once Adames descended that mountain, he began his ascension as a player.
“It made me go back to my roots,” Adames said. “I come from a small town in the Dominican Republic, which is in the mountains. She said, ‘Let’s go to the mountains — the waters and rivers — so you can remember where you come from and who you are.’ That helped a lot. That cleaned my mind of all the stuff that was going on.”
In December, the 29-year-old shortstop joined the Giants on a seven-year, $182 million deal, the largest contract signed by a free agent in franchise history. With that money came the burden of expectation.
Adames has always been a slow starter over his eight-year career, but his new contract amplified his struggles in April and May. The Giants were winning, but their new franchise cornerstone wasn’t performing.
By May’s end, Adames was hitting .207 with five home runs and a .620 OPS. Adames didn’t think he’d be susceptible to the pressure that comes with signing a large deal. That is, until he felt it himself.
Adames found himself doing too much, perpetually cognizant of the expectations that come with signing a nine-figure deal. His inner circle told him the right things, affirming to Adames that he would be fine. Adames heard them; he just couldn’t believe them.
“The first month, I was OK and I was hitting the ball well, but I wasn’t putting up numbers,” Adames said. “So, it’s like, ‘The next month, I have to do it.’ Then I put myself in a bad situation there because I was striking out a lot and not being myself because I was trying too much.”
Hitting coach Pat Burrell knows Adames’ struggles all too well.
Burrell spent the first nine years of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies, averaging about 28 homers per season and putting up an .852 OPS. After beating the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series, he joined them in free agency. He never performed with the Rays and was shipped to the Giants in 2010.
“It can be challenging for these players to come to new settings, new surroundings,” Burrell said. “Put yourself in their shoes. It’s new clubhouse, new city. You might have family, wife, kids, all that. It’s a lot.
“Typically, when guys do make that change or do that transition, it takes them a little while to get comfortable. So, we embrace it. It’s Year 1 of seven years. We want him to respect us. We want him to enjoy his teammates and enjoy being part of a team.”
As Adames looked over Colorado’s vast landscape, he allowed himself to let go.
He rid himself of the thoughts that had plagued him for the first two months of the season. He knew his numbers would improve by September. He had become one of baseball’s better shortstops over seven seasons in Tampa Bay and Milwaukee by being himself — and only himself. There was no reason to change now.
Adames homered against the Rockies in his first game back from his double off day. He went yard the next day, too, his 452-foot blast being the longest home run by a Giant this season. In retrospect, it was the start of an extended run of excellence.
Since June 10, Adames is tied for third among all players in WAR (according to FanGraphs). During that stretch, he’s hitting .286/.367/.555 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs.
Along with the offense, Adames’ defense has remarkably improved as well. Adames was worth -5 outs above average following his two-error game against the Chicago Cubs on May 5. Entering Thursday, Adames has been worth +3 outs above average on the season.
“That (day) put me in a better spot mentally. Since that day, I was like, ‘Just be yourself,’” Adames said. “It’s been better. It’s been going in the right direction even though we haven’t been playing the best ball as a team. We’re moving forward.”
Adames’ performance has ebbed and flowed, but his vibe has remained consistent since spring training.
He’ll leap out of the dugout to celebrate a teammate’s home run. He routinely douses his guys with Powerade during postgame television interviews. He’d celebrate wins with former Giant Mike Yastrzemski by mimicking a between-the-legs dunk that transitioned into a high five.
“The thing I love about him is there’s no ego,” said special assistant to baseball operations Ron Wotus. “He cares about his teammates, he’s there for his teammates and he shows that emotion. … One of your better players is doing that, people are going to fall in line because it rubs off on everybody. He makes people around him better like a lot of the good players and leaders do.”
Said manager Bob Melvin: “There are very few that do it like Willy does. That’s one of the reasons why we wanted him here so bad. We talked to a lot of different (people) —whether it’s managers, players and so forth — about how he brings teams and people together.”
Adames is personally thriving, but now there’s another battle to fight.
The Giants have been one of baseball’s worst teams in recent weeks, so much so that they transitioned from buyers to sellers and dealt away Yastrzemski, Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers. They’re just 17-26 since adding three-time All-Star Rafael Devers and are currently five games behind the San Diego Padres for the final NL wild card spot.
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“I’m still struggling mentally because I’m a big team guy,” Adames said. “That’s why in the beginning when I was struggling people asked, ‘How are you doing?’ We were winning. Now, I’m getting better, but as a team, are we better? It’s that balance. I haven’t been at my best yet because I haven’t gotten both at the same time: me doing good and (us) playing good baseball.”
Adames has already climbed one mountain. As the Giants push for the playoffs, he’s hoping to climb more.
