MVBrewers #10: Willy Adames

We’re kicking off our ranking of the Brewers’ 10 most valuable players in 2023 with shortstop Willy Adames, who finished with a 3.0 WAR, good enough for fourth-best on the team.

Adames, who came over from the Rays in May 2021, has had quite a bit of success in his time with the Brewers, but 2023 was his worst season with the Crew to date.

While he still played in 149 games — his most since 2019 — he hit just .217/.310/.407 with 24 homers and 80 RBIs (95 OPS+). Those numbers mark a bit of regression from his 2022 season, when he hit .238/.298/.458 with 31 homers and 98 RBIs (110 OPS+).

Adames also had his lowest hard-hit rate (36.5%) since his rookie season of 2018, when he had a 31.7% rate.

Defensively, Adames is still as valuable as ever, finishing 16 outs above average (OAA), which ranks in the 99th percentile, according to Baseball Savant. His arm strength also ranks in the 73rd percentile.

On the whole, Adames was once again a valuable piece of the Brewers lineup in 2023, and it’ll be interesting to see if the team decides to keep him around beyond 2024 as his contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

We’ll continue the rankings of the 10 most valuable Brewers each Monday and Wednesday into December. Come back on Wednesday to see who we have at No. 9.

10. Willy Adames