JASON ADAM

• Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
• Bats / Throws: Right / Right
• 2025 opening day age: 33
• Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 229 pounds
• How acquired: Via trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in July 2024
• Contract status: Will make $4.8 million after agreeing to a one-year contract to avoid arbitration; will not be a free agent until 2027.
• fWAR in 2024: 1.3
• Key 2024 stats: 7-2, 1.95 ERA, 4 saves, 31 holds, 81 strikeouts, 23 walks, 0.86 WHIP, .159 opponent average, 73⅔ innings (74 games)

 

STAT TO NOTE

• 38.4 — Adam’s whiff rate in 2024, behind only former Padres closer Josh Hader (40.5) among pitchers with at least 250 plate appearances. Adam’s career whiff rate is 35.2. His 2024 rate was the third-best of his career, trailing 2020 (41.7) with the Cubs and 2022 (38.8) with the Rays.

 

TRENDING

• Up — The Padres were looking to upgrade the bridge to closer Robert Suarez when President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller paid a hefty price for two-plus years of Adam. The deal required one of the Padres’ top pitching prospects (Dylan Lesko), arguably their second-best catching prospect (J.D. Gonzalez) and an up-and-coming speedy outfield prospect (Homer Bush Jr.). Adam was a familiar face for at least the front office and bullpen coach Ben Fritz, who was a rehab coach in Peoria when  Adam arrived on a minor league deal in 2017 while trying to recover from four surgeries following a stress fracture in his elbow. Adam pitched in a couple of rookie-ball games and once for Double-A San Antonio before he was released that August. He then bounced from the Royals to the Blue Jays to the Cubs to the Rays, where he posted a 2.30 ERA over parts of three seasons. That included a 2.49 ERA over 47 innings to start 2024 when the Padres acquired him ahead of the trade deadline. Adam went on to post a 1.01 ERA over 27 appearances with the Padres, collecting 12 more holds to push his total to 31, seventh-most in the majors. His addition, combined with the arrival of Tanner Scott, transformed a bullpen that ranked 20th with a 4.17 ERA through July 28 to fifth (3.04) over the rest of the season. Adam went on to strike out six over 5⅔ innings (3.38 ERA) in the playoffs, recording holds in three of the Padres’ postseason wins.

 

2025 OUTLOOK

• With Scott leaving as a free agent, Adam figures to serve as the primary set-up man for Suarez and the first man up for save situations when Suarez is unavailable to close. With an elite whiff rate (see stat to note) and miniscule platoon splits — a .541 OPS against righties in 2024 and a .456 against lefties — Adam is more than capable of either role.

 

 

Roster rankings

• 13. RHP Joe Musgrove
• 14. Adrián Morejón
• 15. RHP Jeremiah Estrada
• 16. RHP Matt Waldron
• 17. INF Eguy Rosario
• 18. RHP Randy Vásquez
• 19. RHP Bryan Hoeing
• 20. LHP Yuki Matsui
• 21. RHP Sean Reynolds
• 22. C Luis Campusano
• 23. RHP Alek Jacob
• 24. OF Tirso Ornelas
• 25. RHP Ryan Bergert
• 26. RHP Henry Baez
• 27. LHP Omar Cruz
• 28. OF Brandon Lockridge
• 29. LHP Tom Cosgrove
• 30. RHP Stephen Kolek
• 31. RHP Juan Nuñez
• 32. C Brett Sullivan
• 33. UT Tyler Wade
• 34. LHP Wandy Peralta