San Francisco Giants Slugger’s Power Outage Could Be Because of One Statistic Drop

The San Francisco Giants have been patiently waiting for their star free agent signing, shortstop Willy Adames, to live up to the billing.

He agreed to a seven-year, $182 million deal with the club, the largest in franchise history, but has not provided the team with the kind of production they were hoping for.

Adames has been slightly below-average at the plate with a 96 OPS+ and 96 Rbat+. However, after an underwhelming April, he has begun to show some signs of life in May.

Despite having less than half the plate appearances this month than in March/April, he already has more home runs (3) in May than he did in the first month of the season (2) and has matched his doubles total with five.

A .276/.344/.517 slash line in May is certainly more in line with the kind of production the Giants were expecting from their biggest offseason addition.

On the right track, his overall numbers now sit at .230/.308/.371 with five home runs, 10 doubles and 22 RBI.

Luckily for San Francisco, veteran Wilmer Flores has helped pick up the slack in the early going, putting together a historic performance against the Athletics that has him tied for the MLB lead with 41 RBI.

What could have led to such a disappointing start for Adames?

How Much Has Willy Adames’s Swing Speed Drop in 2025

As shared by Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required), his swing speed has dropped in 2025 compared to 2024.

A swing-speed increase last year is one of the reasons that Adames put together a career year with 32 home runs, 33 doubles and 112 RBI. He was routinely registering “fast swings” and doing damage.

This year, those swings have been few and far between.

His 1.7 mph drop, going from 73.6 mph to 71.9, is the ninth-largest drop in 2025. His teammate, left fielder Heliot Ramos, is also on the list, but he has not suffered the same power outage as Adames has.

The drop in swing speed is a concern and something to keep an eye on. In addition to his defensive prowess continuing to regress, this could be a contract San Francisco soon comes to regret handing out.