How Adam has emerged as the Rays' unexpected relief ace

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, _click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox._

ST. PETERSBURG -- There are a lot of ways to describe what Jason Adam has been for the Rays this season. Dominant. Lights-out. Nasty. Elite. Invaluable.

Considering the 31-year-old right-hander signed a split contract during Spring Training, with part of his appeal being that he had a Minor League option, you can safely throw the word “unexpectedly” in front of them all.

Tampa Bay’s starting pitchers were talking in the dugout the other day about Adam’s success and how he’s been so untouchable, and Drew Rasmussen found a few more ways to describe what he’s doing.

“He's got three plus-plus pitches and throws, basically at random, which one he wants,” Rasmussen said. “It's going to go right, it's going to go left or it's going to go up. You pick, you choose -- and you're probably going to guess wrong. It's incredible.”

Just look at his balanced pitch mix heading into Tuesday’s series opener in Milwaukee. He’s thrown 212 sliders, 208 four-seam fastballs and 206 changeups this season. That’s about as evenly distributed as can be and a far cry from his heavy fastball usage -- over 53 percent from 2018-21, as high as 61.4 percent in ’19 -- in years past.

Like Rasmussen said, Adam is basically making hitters play a guessing game. Nobody’s guessing right.

“If you stay ahead [in the count] and you put your menu [of pitches] to work, then you really do a good job of maintaining your unpredictability,” pitching coach Kyle Snyder said. “And you combine it with the fact that it's really elite stuff, you're going to have a lot of success.”

That’s an understatement. Adam’s shift has helped him emerge as not just the Rays’ top high-leverage reliever, but one of the best bullpen arms in all of baseball.

He has a 1.24 ERA, the fifth-best mark among qualified relievers. His .205 xwOBA is the best in the Majors, and his expected ERA (xERA) of 1.72 also leads all qualified relievers. He’s held opponents to a measly .133/.204/.210 slash line. He hasn’t walked a batter in two months -- yes, his last walk was June 9 -- and he’s striking out 32.3 percent of batters faced while walking only 5.1 percent.

Tampa Bay’s bullpen has been without a handful of key arms this season, but Adam has helped make up for those losses. How has he transformed from someone with a 4.71 ERA in 79 games before this season into a force out of the bullpen? It’s a familiar story.

Snyder credited the Rays’ front office, specifically assistant director of pro personnel and pro scouting Ryan Bristow, for identifying an available pitcher with intriguing traits. After a few Spring Training outings, Snyder and bullpen coach Stan Boroski sat down with Adam for a quick meeting.

“Like, ‘These are your pitches. This is how they play. This is how we want you to use them. Go get 'em,’” Adam said, laughing. “Very simple. … Pitching is complex, but they've simplified it and said, 'Do this. Over time, you'll have success.'”

Adam always knew his stuff was good. He just didn’t know why, and he’d been trapped by what he called an “old-school mentality” of trying to get back into counts with fastballs, limiting how much he used his wicked slider and changeup. Adam also credited the Rays for instilling confidence in him, teaching him about his arsenal from a basic level to explaining more complex information like break values.

Adam, about as genial a player as you’ll ever meet, quickly bought into the Rays’ way. Now, the results say it all.

“It's just been a lot of fun for all of us to watch,” Snyder said. “Given where he's been in his career, the fact that he's healthy, retooled the arm stroke and has arguably as good as stuff as any reliever in the game. He goes out on a consistent basis and puts it to work."