Orioles' Adams Enjoyed Strong Second Half
BALTIMORE—If second baseman Ryan Adams is going to play in the majors, his bat will get him there.
Adams swung a pretty good one at Double-A Bowie this year, hitting .298/.365/.464 with 43 doubles, 15 homers and 68 RBIs in 530 at-bats. Not bad for a 6-foot, 195-pound middle infielder facing Eastern League pitching for the first time.
Adams led or tied for the league lead in hits (158), doubles (43) and extra-base hits (58), and he finished tied for eighth in batting average.
"I feel like the season went well," he said. "I put a lot of hard work into the offseason. I wanted to come in and have a good year and I set my goals high. Just working hard every day in the offseason. I came into camp motivated to be successful and wanting to show the organization what I can do."
Adams really heated up in the second half, batting .324/.398/.525 with 17 doubles, eight homers and 27 RBIs in 204 at-bats. He was named to the EL's postseason all-star team.
"It's a huge honor. The first time I've been an all-star," said Adams, a second-round pick in 2006 out of Jesuit (La.) High.
"It feels good, but the big picture is to get to the big leagues. It's nice, but I have a long ways to go. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well at times. After the break, I just kind of found a comfort zone and things started clicking. You have a good week or two and you really relax at the plate."
His defense still needs work, but it's improved after a brutal season at low Class A Delmarva in 2008.
"I can be very good defensively," he said. "I know some people have criticized me there. There was one season where I made of lot errors and was having trouble with the double play. . . . I was playing out there not to make errors instead of being aggressive and not worrying about it. It took me a while to get over that, but I am over that now."
Bird Seed
• The Orioles named first baseman Joe Mahoney as the organization's minor league player of the year. The 2007 sixth-round pick batted .307/.366/.498 with 30 doubles, 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 462 at-bats between high Class A Frederick and Bowie.
• Lefthander Zach Britton was chosen as the organization's minor league pitcher of the year after going 10-7, 2.70 between Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Britton walked 51 and struck out 124 in 153 innings.
E-mail
PrintBALTIMORE—If second baseman Ryan Adams is going to play in the majors, his bat will get him there.
Adams swung a pretty good one at Double-A Bowie this year, hitting .298/.365/.464 with 43 doubles, 15 homers and 68 RBIs in 530 at-bats. Not bad for a 6-foot, 195-pound middle infielder facing Eastern League pitching for the first time.
Adams led or tied for the league lead in hits (158), doubles (43) and extra-base hits (58), and he finished tied for eighth in batting average.
"I feel like the season went well," he said. "I put a lot of hard work into the offseason. I wanted to come in and have a good year and I set my goals high. Just working hard every day in the offseason. I came into camp motivated to be successful and wanting to show the organization what I can do."
Adams really heated up in the second half, batting .324/.398/.525 with 17 doubles, eight homers and 27 RBIs in 204 at-bats. He was named to the EL's postseason all-star team.
"It's a huge honor. The first time I've been an all-star," said Adams, a second-round pick in 2006 out of Jesuit (La.) High.
"It feels good, but the big picture is to get to the big leagues. It's nice, but I have a long ways to go. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well at times. After the break, I just kind of found a comfort zone and things started clicking. You have a good week or two and you really relax at the plate."
His defense still needs work, but it's improved after a brutal season at low Class A Delmarva in 2008.
"I can be very good defensively," he said. "I know some people have criticized me there. There was one season where I made of lot errors and was having trouble with the double play. . . . I was playing out there not to make errors instead of being aggressive and not worrying about it. It took me a while to get over that, but I am over that now."
Bird Seed
• The Orioles named first baseman Joe Mahoney as the organization's minor league player of the year. The 2007 sixth-round pick batted .307/.366/.498 with 30 doubles, 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 462 at-bats between high Class A Frederick and Bowie.
• Lefthander Zach Britton was chosen as the organization's minor league pitcher of the year after going 10-7, 2.70 between Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Britton walked 51 and struck out 124 in 153 innings.
indicates Premium Content | Copyright © 1999-2013 Baseball America Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. All rights reserved. | Site Map | FAQs | Careers | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Return/Refund Policy.
Baseball America, 4319 South Alston Avenue, Suite 103, Durham, NC 27713. | Follow us on: 
