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Giants Star Willy Adames Reminds Everyone of His Ceiling During Win Over Dodgers

Wllly Adames had a signature moment with the San Francisco Giants for the first time.
Brad Wakai|
Jul 11, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) celebrates on base after hitting a two run triple against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning at Oracle Park
Jul 11, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) celebrates on base after hitting a two run triple against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning at Oracle Park | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

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San Francisco GiantsLos Angeles Dodgers

There was a lot of excitement this past offseason when the San Francisco Giants landed Willy Adames in free agency.

Finally signing a coveted star player that other teams around the league were interested in acquiring, adding someone of his talent to this roster was being framed as the move that would allow the Giants to truly compete in the National League.

Unfortunately, the success of San Francisco in the first half of this year has largely been in spite of the star slugger.

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It has not been a pretty beginning to Adames' tenure in the Bay Area, and many were beginning to worry that Buster Posey's first notable signing was going to be a flop.

Sitting with a .222/.310/.365 slash line and just 11 homers and 45 RBI to his name entering play on Friday, the fact he received the most lucrative contract in franchise history that pays him $26 million per season made his performance all the more frustrating.

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But Adames delivered in a major way on Friday.

With the Giants falling behind in the NL West division race, he was the catalyst in their series opening victory over their archrival Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting a second-inning solo homer to center field that gave San Francisco a one-run lead before producing a two-run RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to put them up 7-2.

This performance also reminded everyone who might have forgotten -- or who didn't believe -- what his ceiling can be.

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Adames has been a big time performer throughout his career, hitting 20-plus home runs in four straight years where two of those also went over the 30-homer mark.

He has a plethora of playoff experience, too, going on a deep run with the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series in 2020 before being a driver of the Milwaukee Brewers getting into the postseason in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Adames still has a long way to go if he's going to live up to his lucrative contract, but delivering in moments against the Dodgers like he did on Friday will go a long way towards ingratiating himself with the fanbase while he still searches for long-term answers at the plate.

For more Giants news, head over to Giants On SI.

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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently is the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. He is also a contributor at FanSided, writing about the Philadelphia 76ers for The Sixers Sense. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai

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