Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames is enjoying a career year. Not only is he a focal point of the Brewers offense, but he is pacing the National League in runs batted in. Should he hold on to first place, he would become the fourth Dominican-born player in history to lead the NL in RBIs.
Since Ozzie Virgil debuted as the first Dominican-born player in MLB, only four Dominican-born players have led the National League in RBIs: Marcell Ozuna (2020), Albert Pujols (2010), and Sammy Sosa (1998, 2001). Ozuna achieved the feat during the pandemic-shortened season. Four different players have achieved the feat in the American League, however.
Adames has started all 149 games for the Brewers this season. That alone is a feat in and of itself, but consistently producing is another. Adames has 109 RBIs in 2024, which is already a career high. Adames is in a tight race with NL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani for the RBI lead. Ohtani has 106 RBIs on the year.
Like Ohtani, a large part of Adames’ production has come from the long ball. Adams has 32 home runs, second most by a shortstop in MLB. Sixty-eight of his RBIs have come from home runs. Adames has tied Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. with 13 three-run home runs for the most three-run shots in a season. Adames broke his record of home runs by a Brewers shortstop when he hit his 32nd of the year on September 9.
Adames has become one of the best home-run-hitting shortstops in baseball. Since 2021, he has tied Corey Seager for the most home runs by a shortstop in the MLB and led all shortstops in RBIs in that span.
Adames will be a free agent at the end of the season and is playing himself into a huge payday. He is 10th amongst active Domincan-born players in home runs with 150.
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WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
Photo Credit: Willy Adames #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers leaves the dugout before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on September 10, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
