Willy

Adames

Adames was back at shortstop and hitting sixth following a brief one-game hiatus due to lower-body discomfort. The 30-year-old infielder is hitting .275 (33-for-120) with eight homers and 23 RBI over his last 30 games, despite some recent struggles at the dish.

Adames was held out of Wednesday’s contest due to discomfort in his lower half. It sounds like he’s much improved after a couple of days off though. The 30-year-old shortstop will bat sixth against Cubs’ right-hander Javier Assad on Friday evening in San Francisco.

Adames is out because of lower-half discomfort he felt during last night’s game. As of now, there’s no indication this will be a lengthy absence. Casey Schmitt will start at shortstop with Victor Bericoto in left field, batting eighth, and Jonah Cox in center field, batting ninth.

Adames absolutely clobbered a homer against Edward Cabrera in the first inning, sending a four-seamer 427 feet, out of Wrigley Field entirely. He added a second off Hoby Milner that landed about halfway up the bleachers in San Francisco’s seven-run sixth inning. Adames is now hitting .311/.362/.588 over his last 30 games with eight homers, enough to push his seasonal line to .250/.296/.460. He’s walking much less than usual, but otherwise this is about what you’d have expected from him through the first few months of the season.

Adames’ sixth career grand slam was the fourth for the Giants in May. He went 0-for-8 in the first two games of the series at Coors Field, but he’s been very good for three weeks now, hitting .325 with five homers, six doubles and 17 RBI in his last 20 games.

Giants manager Tony Vitello moved Adames to the leadoff spot last Friday and he’s gone 3-for-14 with one homer and two RBI in three games since. The 30-year-old shortstop has been swinging a hot bat recently, hitting .306 (19-for-62) with three homers and 11 RBI over his last 15 games.

Adames went back-to-back with Rafael Devers in the second inning, taking Ryne Nelson deep for a solo home run. He later drew a walk in the eighth. The 30-year-old shortstop is coming around at the plate after hitting .197 through April. He’s hit .314 in May, giving him a .240/.277/.391 slash line with five homers, 19 runs scored, and 15 RBI across 202 plate appearances.

It’s a really encouraging sign that Adames is back at shortstop after suffering a right thumb contusion while committing a fielding error during Monday’s series opener against Arizona. The 30-year-old shortstop has been on a roll lately, hitting .313 (21-for-67) with one homer, eight RBI and one steal since the start of May.

Adames had the ball go off his thumb while committing an error on a Nolan Arenado grounder. If he can’t play Tuesday, then Casey Schmitt figures to start at shortstop.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today had reported earlier in the week that the Giants would love to trade away some of their biggest contracts, including Devers, Chapman, Adames, and Jung Hoo Lee. Murray’s report seems to counter that and suggests that the Giants, who are just six games out of a playoff spot, believe there is “plenty of time between now and the deadline for them to climb out of this hole.” If the Giants are not able to do that, perhaps “further subtractions” would be on the table, but that doesn’t appear to be the case right now.