Braves 2020 Player Reviews: Matt Adams

Matt Adams was signed as a lefty bat with some power to help fill in the gap left by Markakis opting out (remember when that happened?). Adams hadn’t been good the previous season, but there was hope that he would rediscover his career form at and help bolster the offense.

What went right: Overall, very little. His highlight for this season was probably a walk-off homer that he hit during an exhibition game against Miami. Other than that, he hit two home runs, but didn’t contribute much to the team.

What went wrong: Almost everything. Adams slashed .184/.216/.347, good for an abysmal 45 wRC+ and -0.5 WAR over 16 games. In summation, he was very bad. He even had a few baserunning blunders in there just for good measure. Adams also had a few injury problems in 2020, which certainly didn’t help him. Once Markakis re-joined the team, the writing was on the wall for Adams, and although it was not immediate, he was eventually DFA’d and then released in early September.

Outlook for 2021: It is technically possible that Atlanta could sign Adams again this offseason, but he is already 32 years old, and hasn’t been a productive player since 2018. While there isn’t anything stopping the Braves from giving him another look, especially if the DH remains in the NL, I would find it hard to imagine that they couldn’t find a better option for a similarly cheap price. I would guess that some team will at least kick the tires on Adams in spring training, assuming he is open to that, but it would be surprising to see Matt Adams get any substantial playing time in the majors again.