Adams -- in relief -- sets season HBP mark

So here's a question: How many batters could a relief pitcher who's thrown 49 2/3 innings this season possibly hit?

If your answer before reading this article was any number fewer than 24, you'd be wrong. Yes, you read that correctly: 24.

Padres right-hander Austin Adams set a new MLB record for the Live Ball Era (since 1920) for most hit-batsmen in one season when he plunked Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina in the eighth inning of San Diego's 8-2 loss at Busch Stadium on Friday night.

And, yes, he hasn't even reached the 50-inning mark for the season.

It's not as if Adams has pitched poorly in 2021 -- he entered Friday's game with a 3.65 ERA in 62 appearances for the Padres this season. He throws his wicked slider nearly 90 percent of the time and is among the MLB leaders in lowest hard-hit rate, barrel rate, expected batting average against, whiff rate and strikeout rate.

But the slider doesn't always go where it's supposed to, and despite the dominance it results in most of the time, it also leaves bruises pretty frequently.

"I get the narrative. He gets the narrative," manager Jayce Tingler said. "They're all sliders. This guy's not head-hunting. This guy's not throwing 95 mph fastballs and hitting guys."

The prior record for hit-batsmen in one season during the Live Ball Era was held by Howard Ehmke, who hit 23 batters in 1922 -- in 279 2/3 innings. Ninety-nine years later, the hit-by-pitch king has been dethroned by Adams, who came into the 2021 campaign having hit exactly two batters in his entire five-season career (42 innings).