Riley Adams Stats & Scouting Report

AB	116
AVG	.224
OBP	.292
SLG	.336
HR	2

Full name Riley Keaton Adams
Born 06/26/1996 in Encinitas, CA
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 260 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School San Diego
Debut 06/08/2021
Drafted in the 3rd round (99th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 (signed for $542,400).

View Draft Report

Adams ranked No. 154 on the BA 500 out of high school and was drafted by the Cubs in the 37th round. He instead became a cornerstone player at USD, hitting in the middle of the lineup and starting at catcher since he was a freshman. Adams is a big-league bodied catcher at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and uses his strength well on both sides of the ball. His raw arm strength grades as plus and earns an occasional 70 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, while at the plate he possesses big power to all fields and enough feel to hit to get to it. He has had swing-and-miss issues to go along with his power production. Defensively Adams' hands, receiving and blocking are well below-average and need significant work. Some evaluators believe those skills can improve to be adequate in the context of everything else Adams provides, but others think he will eventually have to move positions, either to first base or an outfield corner. Regardless, Adams' size, power and pedigree will make him one of the top catchers off the board.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Track Record: A third-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2017, Adams steadily hit his way to the big leagues over the course of four years. He debuted with the Blue Jays in June before being sent to Washington for Brad Hand just before the trade deadline. With the Nationals down the stretch, he hit .268/.422/.465 in 35 games.

Scouting Report: Adams has a power-based skill set, both defensively and at the plate, which matches his physical frame. As a hitter, he has plus or maybe even plus-plus raw power that comes with some swing and miss thanks to length in his swing, but not enough swing and miss that he can’t get to power during games. Defensively, he has plus arm strength, but issues in his release keep his arm from being as effective as it could be. In past minor league seasons, he nabbed greater than 40% of would-be base stealers, but those numbers eroded as the competition got better.

The Future: With the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark and limit the run game somewhat with his arm, Adams has value as a toolsy backup catcher, and with Keibert Ruiz ahead of him, that’s likely his immediate future. However, if he continues to produce as he did in a small sample in 2021, he could also elbow his way into at-bats at other positions.
Adams started at catcher for San Diego since his freshman year, then signed with the Blue Jays for $542,400 as a third-round pick in 2017 and hit well in his pro debut in the short-season Northwest League. Adams immediately sticks out with an extra-large frame for a catcher. He has a plus arm and erased 40 percent of basestealers in the NWL. To remain behind the plate, he has work to do to improve his hands, receiving and blocking skills and avoid a move to either first base or the outfield. He already showed improvements in those areas since signing and looks like he could develop into an adequate defender. Adams has a power-over-hit profile, with average raw power that comes with swing-and-miss because his swing tends to get big. He hit just three home runs in 52 games in pro ball, but he was playing home games in a park that suppresses power and looked fatigued by the end of the season.

Draft Prospects

Adams ranked No. 154 on the BA 500 out of high school and was drafted by the Cubs in the 37th round. He instead became a cornerstone player at USD, hitting in the middle of the lineup and starting at catcher since he was a freshman. Adams is a big-league bodied catcher at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and uses his strength well on both sides of the ball. His raw arm strength grades as plus and earns an occasional 70 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, while at the plate he possesses big power to all fields and enough feel to hit to get to it. He has had swing-and-miss issues to go along with his power production. Defensively Adams' hands, receiving and blocking are well below-average and need significant work. Some evaluators believe those skills can improve to be adequate in the context of everything else Adams provides, but others think he will eventually have to move positions, either to first base or an outfield corner. Regardless, Adams' size, power and pedigree will make him one of the top catchers off the board.
Lean and angular at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, Adams is athletic and projectable. He's also big for a catcher, and his receiving is raw at this stage, but his hands work, giving him a chance to stick behind the plate. He has slightly above-average to plus arm strength, but below-average accuracy. Offensively, Adams has shown the ability to drive the opposite gap in the past, but he has shown more of a pull approach this spring and is hard on his front side. He had bat speed, but he'll need to prove he can make more consistent contact. Adams could grow into average or slightly better power, but he remains a work in progress. He is a San Diego commit who is considered a tough sign outside the top three rounds.

Minor League Top Prospects

Adams is in many ways the opposite of fellow NWL catcher Daulton Varsho, who was Drafted 31 spots earlier. Compared to Varsho's smaller stature, pure hitting ability and below-average throwing arm, Adams is much more physical with a plus throwing arm and home run power. He excelled offensively in his professional debut, batting .305/.374/.438, and has raw righthanded power that also comes with some swings-and-misses. At a chiseled 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Adams stands out behind the plate with a frame similar to Matt Wieters. Scouts had questions about his hands and blocking ability before the draft, but Adams made strides with both throughout the summer and impressed with his ability to call games. "I can't believe how much he improved defensively," said Vancouver manager Rich Miller. "And it's not like he was bad when he came in." A righthanded hitter playing in a spacious home ballpark, Adams hit just three homers for the Canadians, but he has potential middle-of-the-order power that should show itself more as Adams moves through the system. Adams does have a propensity to swing and miss (50 strikeouts to 18 walks in 203 at-bats), which he'll need to curtail. Fatigue is likely to blame for at least a handful of those strikeouts, though, as a tired Adams had difficulty catching up to good fastballs late in his first professional season.

Scouting Reports

Track Record: A third-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2017, Adams steadily hit his way to the big leagues over the course of four years. He debuted with the Blue Jays in June before being sent to Washington for Brad Hand just before the trade deadline. With the Nationals down the stretch, he hit .268/.422/.465 in 35 games.

Scouting Report: Adams has a power-based skill set, both defensively and at the plate, which matches his physical frame. As a hitter, he has plus or maybe even plus-plus raw power that comes with some swing and miss thanks to length in his swing, but not enough swing and miss that he can’t get to power during games. Defensively, he has plus arm strength, but issues in his release keep his arm from being as effective as it could be. In past minor league seasons, he nabbed greater than 40% of would-be base stealers, but those numbers eroded as the competition got better.

The Future: With the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark and limit the run game somewhat with his arm, Adams has value as a toolsy backup catcher, and with Keibert Ruiz ahead of him, that’s likely his immediate future. However, if he continues to produce as he did in a small sample in 2021, he could also elbow his way into at-bats at other positions.