MOOSIC, Pa. — Chance Adams is waiting. For abilities he so recently possessed to return, and for a shot he’s never had to materialize.
He can’t have one without the other.
It has been a trying season for a pitcher who just last year was the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect — behind only Gleyber Torres — who’s now plunged to their 13th, according to MLB.com. After offseason surgery, his stuff is diminished, his numbers are troubling and his fellow prospects are leapfrogging him. Last year, a call-up just eluded him. This year, if a non-40-man rostered pitcher gets summoned, heavy odds would go to teammate Justus Sheffield.
Adams wants his, well, chance. And, as he volunteered, at this point he doesn’t much care where that may be.
“All the scouting people we have, the directors, they know what they’re doing,” Adams told The Post this weekend at PNC Field. “They’ll call me up when they feel my time is ready. Whether it’s here or wherever, I mean, I’m sure I’ll get my shot.”
The holdup is not a mystery, least of all to Adams. A 6-foot-1, solidly built right-hander, Adams mowed down the competition last year, with a good feel for a big mid-to-upper-90s fastball and power slider, along with a changeup that still needs work. He was untouchable at Double-A Trenton and nasty at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, positioning himself atop the list of potential call-ups this year. But this season went wrong before it began.
Adams needed offseason surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow and hasn’t looked like the same pitcher. A fastball that lived around “93-97,” Adams said, has been “90-94, maybe a touch of [95].” Diminished velocity has turned a hard-thrower into a pinpointer, and a season after he averaged 3.47 walks per nine innings, the number’s up to 4.52. The ERA that was 2.45 has ballooned by double, sitting at 4.93.
“I haven’t really shown them this year that I was quite ready with my stuff,” the 23-year-old said. “But just going out there trying to focus with where I’m at and succeed.
“It can be [frustrating]. I know where I can be, and I know where I’m at right now. It’s difficult knowing I’m pitching not how I want to be.”
Adams believes he’s seeing signs his strength is coming back. In a rain-abbreviated outing Tuesday, he struck out six in three innings (though allowed two runs). He said he felt better, even if the radar gun wasn’t cooperating.
“Still just getting back,” Adams said. “Once I get my velocity back, once I feel more comfortable out there, I’ll be able to just let it fly more.”
His manager, Bobby Mitchell, sees the nibbling that Adams has resorted to, saying Adams has tried to be “a little too fine.” He said his changeup is coming along and actually called this year’s Adams an improved pitcher.
Still, the downturn has been real — and it actually might be contributing to his sticking around. As the Yankees dealt other potential Rule 5 pitching casualties in Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll and Josh Rogers, Adams, who also would have to be protected after this season, has seen his value tumble. A change to the bullpen, where he could better unleash his arm, might be more likely than a trade.
To that end, Adams said pitching is pitching; he doesn’t care about how he’s used, or with whom he’s pitching. He was a reliever for much of his collegiate career and wouldn’t complain about the switch. The fifth-round pick in 2015 out of Dallas Baptist just wants the stuff he lost, because that’s how he’ll get where he wants to be.
Asked if this time of year is difficult — scouts’ eyes follow every pitch, and each one could be his last before a trade — Adams verbally shrugged.
“Not really,” said the shaggy-haired blonde from Arizona. “If I got traded, I’d just be pitching on a different team.”