Conversations with the Herd: Washington Nationals Catcher Riley Adams

By: Brian Frank

Riley Adams’ connection with Buffalo came during a unique time in the city’s baseball history. The current Washington Nationals catcher played for the Bisons when they were temporarily based in Trenton, New Jersey, and for the Toronto Blue Jays when they called Sahlen Field home.

“I think overall it was kind of a different year across the board,” Adams said in a recent interview with The Herd Chronicles. “I mean the Blue Jays started their season in Florida at the ballpark down there in Dunedin, then moved up to Buffalo, and then obviously the last month and a half or two months back in Toronto. I think you just had to embrace the situation you were in.”

Adams (center) with the other Nats catchers. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Adams grew up in San Diego, California, where he first moved behind the plate while playing high school baseball at Canyon Crest Academy.

“I was a shortstop my freshman year of high school,” he said. “Then going into my sophomore season of high school, our team didn’t have a catcher, so I basically filled in. I kind of just went from there. I don’t think I’d be in this position if it wasn’t for that switch.”

Adams attended the University of San Diego, where he slashed .305/.411/.504 with 24 home runs and a .915 OPS over three seasons. He was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, presented to the top Division I catcher, for two seasons—and won the 2017 West Coast Conference Player of the Year Award his junior season, when he slashed .312/.424/564 with 13 home runs and a .988 OPS.

“The friendships and the teammates that I had throughout those years,” Adams said of what stood out during his college baseball days. “We certainly weren’t a big school, being a West Coast Conference School. Whether you were my teammate or not, just going to USD there’s that kind of connection and relationship. It’s cool to see guys that are still in pro ball or playing against them up here. It’s those connections that were easily the best part about my time there.”

Adams was selected by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 2017 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft. He then reported to Low-A Vancouver, where he slashed .305/.374/.438 in 52 games.

“It was definitely different,” he said of his adjustment to professional baseball, “but certainly a lot of fun. I think Vancouver for a first spot to be in pro ball—we were pretty lucky to be where we were at, a major city like that. We had great fans out there in Vancouver. They certainly supported us a lot. It was a pretty awesome experience. There were certainly some growing pains along the way, trying to get used to playing every day, and that was before the current minor-league schedule where you don’t travel as much. So, getting used to the long bus rides and getting in late to places and playing the next day certainly took a little bit of an adjustment—but it was a lot of fun.”

Adams worked his way up through the Blue Jays’ system, making it to Double-A New Hampshire in 2019 before the 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When MLB was finally able to schedule a truncated 60-game season in 2020, Blue Jays players reported to Rogers Centre for a spring training style camp to prepare for the season.

“Spring training 2.0 they let us into Toronto, and we had to stay at the hotel that was attached to the stadium,” he remembered. “We basically went from our hotel room to the field and back to our hotel room. It was definitely a different time.”

He was then part of the Blue Jays’ 60-man player pool for the season, so he reported to Rochester’s Frontier Field (now named Innovative Field) to be ready and available if the big-league club required his services.

“Going to Rochester obviously was a little different,” Adams said. “Showing up to the park every day and basically playing intersquads and facing your own pitchers all the time. But we had a good group of guys that kept it fun and good coaches and staff around that made it an enjoyable time given the scenario.”

“It definitely gave you time to kind of experiment with stuff,” he continued. “In a sense it was a little more in line with spring training, or something like that, where obviously stats and performance matter but not to the same extent as a regular season or a minor-league season might. So, yeah, it definitely gave you time to try some different stuff, work on something new, and see if there’s areas to improve on stuff like that.”

Adams with the Bisons in 2021. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

When minor league baseball resumed in 2021, Adams played for the Bisons when the team temporarily relocated to Arm & Hammer Park (now named Trenton Thunder Ballpark) in Trenton, New Jersey, to allow the Blue Jays to use Sahlen Field due to the closure of the U.S.-Canada border. Adams posted an .858 OPS in 35 games for the Herd.

“We were always joking that we were the Thunder Bison,” he chuckled. “We had a good time. We had to wear Thunder jerseys at home and Bisons jerseys on the road. That was kind of a fun little experience. A lot of those same guys were the guys we had at the alt-site, guys that I’d come up with through the organization, so we were all really close. It was just a fun experience and everyone kind of embraced the opportunity. Obviously, we wish we could have been playing in Buffalo, but Trenton was still a pretty fun spot.”

Adams made his major-league debut for the Blue Jays in a June 2021 game at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field (now named Rate Field) against the White Sox, facing lefty Carlos Rodón.

“First at-bat against Rodón, he struck me out on a good slider, down and in, basically,” Adams recalled. “The second time through he got me at two strikes again. In the back of my head, I thought he might be trying to come back at me with that slider. Thankfully, I guess for me, he tried to go hard in and I was just able to get the barrel to it. It was a line drive to center that I was just glad I got over the center fielder’s head. It was just a special moment. Happy to get that first hit out of the way, especially in my debut—and obviously good to have my family and everyone there to share it with.”

Adams ended up playing in 12 games for the 2021 Blue Jays, including four games at Sahlen Field.

“It was definitely a different ballpark than playing in Toronto, but you’re still playing against the best,” he said. “The Blue Jays were great about making the field and the facilities and everything up to major-league standards. They were great in helping us adjust to that and be ready for games there.”

Adams and fellow catcher Alejandro Kirk with the 2021 Bisons. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Toronto had an abundance of catchers at the time—including Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk in the big leagues, as well as Adams and prospect Gabriel Moreno rising rapidly through the system. The number of catchers combined with a desperate need for bullpen help led to the Blue Jays trading Adams to the Washington Nationals at the 2021 MLB trade deadline for reliever Brad Hand.

“When I got traded, we were on the road in Worcester, and we were going to go back to Buffalo the next week,” Adams remembered. “It was going to be the first week back in Buffalo, and I got traded right before then. So, it was kind of a whirlwind—pack your things, get moving on.”

“It was my first time being traded and experiencing all that comes with that,” he continued. “It was definitely a lot—especially saying goodbye to a lot of coaches and players that I’d been around for years. It was tough to move on from those guys. But I was certainly excited about the opportunity here in D.C.—and it was shortly after that I got to come up with the Nationals and get some big-league time in.”

Now 29 years old, the 6’4” catcher has been in the Nationals’ organization for over four seasons and played in 244 career big-league games. This year, he’s been showcasing his defensive prowess by throwing out 36 percent of base runners attempting to steal, the fifth highest percentage in the National League and eighth highest in the major leagues—and far above the major-league average of 23 percent. He also ranks first in the N.L. and second in the big leagues in catcher arm strength, with his average throw clocking in at 84.4 mph.

“I think last year, for all of us catchers, we didn’t put up the best numbers in throwing out runners,” he said. “I think we all kind of took it personally to work on that and get better and improve in all areas. Just making sure we’re cleaning up everything that we can and helping out our pitchers as much as we can. It’s just kind of across the board for me, Keibert (Ruiz), and Drew (Millas) to work on that and take it personally and get those guys out.”

The Nationals have one of the youngest teams in baseball, boasting a roster filled with exciting talent and highly regarded former prospects who are now taking their talents to the big league level.

“There’s a ton of young talent,” Adams said. “We’re seeing a lot of guys right now coming up, having success, enjoying the time here. It makes us all really excited, when you’ve got guys like James Wood, C.J. Abrams, Daylen Lile, some of our young guys coming up that are really helping out a lot and making some big strides for us and helping us get dubs.”