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CHICAGO -- Willy Adames is beginning to pick it up with the bat after enduring a slow start at the plate. The Giants will now hope for a similar turnaround with his glove.
After committing a pair of defensive miscues in the Giants’ 9-2 loss to the Cubs in Monday night’s series opener at Wrigley Field, Adames entered Tuesday with seven errors over his first 36 games at shortstop, which is tied with D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suárez, White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa and Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz for the most in the Majors this season.
Adames’ recent stumble was part of an off night for the entire left side of the Giants’ infield. Third baseman Matt Chapman also made two errors of his own, allowing the Cubs to score six unearned runs against young right-handers Landen Roupp and Hayden Birdsong. It was the first time since May 27, 1967, that the Giants’ third baseman and shortstop each committed two errors in the same game.
“It was a bad game,” manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday. “That's probably, defensively, our worst game of the year. It’s two guys that we rely on defensively. Those are going to happen from time to time. Let’s just move on from it.”
Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove winner, uncharacteristically committed five errors in his last six games, but he still entered Tuesday tied for third in the Majors with +3 Outs Above Average among qualified third basemen. The numbers are a bit more concerning with Adames, who has recorded -6 Defensive Runs Saved and -5 OAA at shortstop, both of which rank near the bottom of the league.
“Sometimes it just happens,” Adames said. “You get into bad habits and stuff. You just get unlucky sometimes. I feel like for me and Chappy, it hasn’t been the best. We’ll be good. We’re going to be alright. We’re just going to continue to work.”
Adames made both a fielding and a throwing error against the Cubs on Monday, misplaying Seiya Suzuki’s grounder to his backhand in the bottom of the first before throwing wide of second baseman Christian Koss to put runners on second and third with no outs in the sixth.
The 29-year-old infielder has been a solid defender for most of his eight-year career and ranked second in the Majors among shortstops with +16 OAA in 2023, but he took a step back with the glove last year, finishing more in the middle of the pack with +1 OAA. Despite the rough start this year, Adames said he remains confident he’ll be a reliable presence up the middle for the Giants moving forward.
“Defense is very different than hitting,” said Adames, who signed a franchise-record seven-year, $182 million deal with the Giants in December. “Obviously, when it happens, you can’t even do anything because it just stays there. It’s not like you go 0-for-4 and then you go 3-for-4 the next day and you feel like you made it up. When you make an error, especially when it costs you a game, it’s like, it makes you feel like [crap].
“You just feel like you let your team down when you make an error and it costs the game. It’s something that we take a lot of pride in. When it happens, you just want to get the next groundball to make it up.”
Chapman, for his part, believes the best is yet to come for Adames at shortstop.
“I’ve seen him at his best,” Chapman said. “I know he’s obviously frustrated with probably the way that he’s going right now like I am, as well. The best thing I can say is it’s a long season. He’s been in the league for a long time. He knows what he needs to do. I think sometimes when you start with a new team and you sign a new contract, he wants to come in here and really make an impact. Sometimes you put a little extra pressure on yourself or whatever it is.
“But I know that he’s somebody that’s going to carry this team and really help this team for a long time on both sides of the ball. I’m sure there’s some early frustrations, but I think it’s one of those things where we’re all going to look back and look at that as just a weird little time in the season. By the time summer rolls around, he’s going to be where he needs to be, and we all will, for sure.”