David Adams

David Lee Adams

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Virginia
• High School Grandview Prep
• Debut May 15, 2013
• Final Game September 29, 2013
• Born May 15, 1987 in Margate, FL USA

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Biographical Information

David Adams played part of one season in the big leagues with the New York Yankees (2013).

Amateur Career

Adams hit .548 as a high school sophomore. His senior year, he was an All-State selection after hitting .500. He was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the 21st round of the 2005 amateur draft but instead enrolled at Virginia. He batted .318/.403/.448 with 57 runs scored in 62 games as a freshman. Baseball America named him second-team Freshman All-American, behind Jemile Weeks, at second base. In 2007, the sophomore hit .372/.454/.522 with 10 steals in 14 tries, 45 runs and 43 RBI in 60 games, tying for 7th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in average. For the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League, he batted .302/.382/.420 and finished among the league leaders in average (9th, between Allan Dykstra and Matt Hague), doubles (14, 1st), hits (tied for second with 51, even with Yonder Alonso, one behind Shane Peterson) and triples (3, tied for second, one shy of Collin Cowgill). The next year, David's batting line for Virginia fell to .286/.384/.411 with 48 runs scored and 51 RBI in 61 contests. He stole 16 bases in 19 tries, tying him for 9th in the ACC in steals. He was 10th in the conference with 41 walks. The New York Yankees picked him in the third round of the 2008 amateur draft, the 106th total selection. He was New York's first position player taken, following hurlers Gerrit Cole, Jeremy Bleich and Scott Bittle. He was signed by scout Scott Lovekamp and made his pro debut that summer.

Minors

David made his pro debut with the 2008 Staten Island Yankees and produced at a .257/.350/.393 clip with 45 runs scored in 67 games, chipping in a 3 for 9 line in the postseason. He was 6th in the New York-Penn League in runs (between Kevin Mattison and Ben Guez). He split 2009 between the Charleston RiverDogs (.290/.385/.394 in 67 games) and Tampa Yankees (.281/.360/.498 in 65 games). He led the Yankees chain in doubles (40, 10 more than runners-up Juan Miranda and Shelley Duncan), tied for 7th in triples (8), tied Brandon Laird for third in RBI (75, behind Duncan and Miranda) and was 5th in walks (61, between Duncan and Miranda).

Baseball America rated Adams having the best strike-zone judgement in the Yankees system in 2010. That year, he hit .309/.393/.507 with 31 runs scored, 15 doubles and 32 RBI in 39 games for the Trenton Thunder before fracturing his right ankle in late May. He missed the remainder of the year and underwent surgery. Further ankle problems sidelined him three times in 2011, as he saw little action for the GCL Yankees (.429/.469/.643, 13 runs scored, 9 doubles in 17 games) and Tampa (.308/.368/.365 in 12 games). He battled more health issues in 2012, missing a month with back spasms, but did well when healthy, hitting .306/.385/.450 with 23 doubles in 86 games. In the playoffs, he was 8 for 30 with 3 doubles. He followed with a .286 fall for Scottsdale of the Arizona Fall League. He began 2013 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and was batting .316/.407/.490 after 27 games.

Majors

Adams was called up to replace Chris Nelson on the roster; the injury-plagued Yankees had lost infielders Derek Jeter, Eduardo Núñez and Kevin Youkilis to injury, giving the injury-plagued Adams his chance at the majors. He started at third base and hit 6th in his debut, on May 15th, his 26th birthday, grounding out against Hisashi Iwakuma in his first big league at-bat. He singled off Iwakuma in the 6th for his first hit, finishing the day 1 for 4. His first homer came five days later off Freddy Garcia. Adams saw time in 43 big league games, batting .193/.252/.286 with 8 extra base hits in 140 at bats. The Yankees non-tendered him at season's end. He signed a big league deal with the Cleveland Indians for 2014, only to be placed on outright waivers at the end of spring training. The Baltimore Orioles claimed him, with whom he would split the season between Double A and Triple A. He spent 2015 in Double A of the Miami Marlins system and finished his career after time with the Buffalo Bisons of the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2016.

Post-Playing Career

Adams became a defensive coach with the GCL Yankees East in 2017 and ascended to the GCL Yankees West manager's throne in 2018. He moved up to skipper the Staten Island Yankees in 2019. Adams was scheduled to manage the Tampa Tarpons and to serve as the Tampa training complex coordinator in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He then managed the Tarpons in 2021 and was a coach for the FCL Yankees in 2022.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2018	GCL Yankees West	Gulf Coast League	25-27	11th	New York Yankees
2019	Staten Island Yankees	New York-Penn League	40-36	6th	New York Yankees
2021	Tampa Tarpons	Low-A Southeast	73-43	1st	New York Yankees	Lost League Finals

Sources

• 2013 Yankees Media Guide
• Virginia bio
• Cape Cod League
• The Baseball Cube

Related Sites

• David Adams on mlb.com