Jason Adam #40

Jason and his wife, Kelsey, have four daughters: Kinsley (5), Joelle (3), Selah (2) and Raelynn (born in July 2023)…his wife played a vital role in turning him into the epitome of a “girl dad,” a term coined by NBA legend Kobe Bryant…in a podcast, Jason said, “I never was good at sitting there and telling somebody how much I love them. But when it’s your daughter, you look at them and you’re like, ‘I need to pour into their soul.’”...His family was able to attend the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where he did not allow a run while tying for the Team USA lead in appearances (four)…Jason kept as much memorabilia from the experience as he could, including a team-signed jersey that he framed...In the ninth inning of a win over the Blue Jays last April, Jason ended the game with a spectacular double play against former teammate Kevin Kiermaier, catching Kiermaier’s 91.1-mph comebacker behind his back before throwing to second base for a force out…Jason joked that a SportsCenter Top 10 appearance was a given, and the real question was whether he would receive a Gold Glove award…the play checked in at No. 5 on SportsCenter the following day...Jason began his career with the Kane County Cougars…after the canceled 2020 season, the team was cut from the Midwest League as part of MLB’s reorganization of the Minor Leagues… they are now part of the American Association, an independent MLB Partner League...Selected by the Royals in the fifth round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Blue Valley Northwest (Mo.) High School, which is 22 miles from Kauffman Stadium...Committed to the University of Missouri before signing with the Royals.

2023

Recorded career highs in saves (12) and wins (four) in his second season with the Rays…totaled two stints on the injured list, both with left oblique strains (Sept. 3-21; Sept. 23–end of season), the first of which was suffered while warming up in Miami on Aug. 29…made his return from the injured list on Sept. 22 vs. TOR and suffered a second oblique strain, this time in a different spot...Held left-handed batters to a .167 (16-for-96) average, sixth lowest in the AL (min. 75AB)…five of his seven HR allowed came vs. lefties...Held opponents to a 5-for-56 (.089) average on his sweeper…min. 50 AB, it marked the lowest opp. average on any major league pitcher’s sweeper… registered a 38.2 pct. whiff rate on the pitch...His 31.1 pct. strikeout rate ranked ninth among AL relievers (min. 200BF)…his 69 strikeouts led all Rays relievers…struck out the side in order in six separate innings after doing so twice in 2022...Allowed only two of his nine inherited runners to score (22.2%)…since 2022, he has allowed only five of his 40 inherited runners to score (12.5%), the lowest percentage in the majors (min. 35IR)...Recorded a 1.23 ERA (29.1IP, 4ER) in 28 day games compared to a 5.04 ERA (25.0IP, 14ER) in 28 night games...Entered with the Rays tied or ahead in 50 of his 56 outings…42 of his appearances were scoreless...Made his third straight Opening Day roster, including his second with the Rays...Allowed at least one hit in 11 straight games from April 16–May 12, the longest streak of his career (prev. 7G)...On May 28 vs. LAD, recorded his first career six-out save…it marked his first outing of 2.0+ IP since Sept. 5, 2020 vs. STL…threw 37 pitches, third most in any game of his career...Collected 11 saves in 20 appearances from May 2–June 14, second most in the AL over that span behind LAA Carlos Estevez (12)...Recorded a season-high nine straight scoreless appearances (8.2IP) from July 6–Aug. 5, holding opponents to a 4-for-30 (.133) average while posting a 0.46 WHIP...On Aug. 24 vs. COL, struck out a career-high five of the six batters he faced and earned his final win of the season…it was part of a stretch from Aug. 18-26 in which he struck out 10 of 14 BF...Was not a member of the Rays AL Wild Card Series roster after being placed on the 15-day IL with a left oblique strain on Sept. 23...WBC: Made his World Baseball Classic debut with Team USA, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings with five SO in four games…held opponents to a 1-for-12 (.083) clip, with the lone hit being a Salvador Perez double in a quarterfinal matchup with Venezuela...Pitched a scoreless sixth inning vs. Team Japan in the WBC Championship on March 21, working around three walks to leave the bases loaded and keep Team USA within two runs, 3-1.

2022

Led the team with 67 appearances and led the Rays bullpen with 63.1 IP and 75 SO…min. 50 IP, his 1.56 ERA ranked fourth in the AL behind HOU Ryne Stanek (1.15), CLE Emmanuel Clase (1.36) and BAL Cionel Pérez (1.40)…ranked fourth among relievers in franchise history behind Fernando Rodney (0.60) in 2012, Joaquin Benoit (1.34) in 2010 and Grant Balfour (1.54) in 2008...Held opponents to a .147 avg. (31-for-211) with 9 XBH…ranked among AL relievers in opp. avg. (2nd), opp. OBP (.229, 3rd) and opp. SLG (.242, 7th)… his .471 opp. OPS ranked second among AL relievers behind CLE Emmanuel Clase (.425)...Held left-handed hitters to a .136 avg. (11-for-81), fifth in the AL (min. 50 AB)...Allowed 9.7 pct. (3 of 31) of inherited runners to score, second in the majors (min. 20 IR) behind BAL Dillon Tate (8.7)…stranded 27 straight from May 5–Sept. 17, passing J.P. Howell (26) from June 11–Sept. 23, 2008 for the longest streak in club history… marked the longest single-season streak in the majors since OAK Ryan Dull (36) in 2016...Had a whiff rate of 46.1 pct. on his slider and 34.4 pct. on his changeup...Was one of four players from the Opening Day roster to remain active all season, joining Randy Arozarena, Corey Kluber and Taylor Walls...Did not allow a hit in his first nine appearances, the second longest streak of hitless apps to start a season in club history behind Scott Aldred (11) in 1999...Did not allow a run in 18 appearances and 16.2 IP from May 5–June 18 and opponents hit .132 (7-for-53) against him over that stretch…marked the longest run of scoreless apps in his career...Made his second straight Opening Day roster...On May 13 vs. TOR, pitched a perfect ninth inning for the first save of his major league career...On June 9 vs. STL, faced the minimum in the ninth inning for his second save…went to a three-ball count on all three BF, walking the leadoff batter before getting a Nolan Gorman swinging strikeout and Tyler O’Neill double play grounder...On June 20 vs. NYY, allowed a go-ahead, RBI triple to Aaron Hicks in the ninth inning and a sacrifice fly to Jose Trevino, ending scoreless streaks of 18 apps and 16.2 IP…the 2 ER were his most since April 25, 2021, vs. MIL (5, with CHC)...On July 3 at TOR, inherited the bases loaded with a 7-3 lead and one out in the ninth inning… struck out both Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk for the save...On Aug. 16 at NYY, recorded a save of four outs (or more) for the first time in his career…inherited 1-on, 2-out in the 8th inning to face the potential game-tying run and induced an Aaron Judge fielder’s choice before pitching a perfect ninth...On Sept. 23 vs. TOR, allowed a pair of inherited runners to score…ended a club-record streak of stranding 27 consecutive inherited runners...POSTSEASON: Pitched in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series at CLE, going two scoreless innings… inherited 2-on, 0-out in the sixth inning of a 0-0 game and his first pitch resulted in a hit batter… escaped the jam with a strikeout and double play grounder, and faced the minimum in the seventh.

2021

Made the Cubs Opening Day roster, the first of his career…was with the Cubs for four stints: Opening Day–April 25, May 7-14, Sept. 24 (29th Man) and Sept. 28 through season’s end...His last four apps spanning two stints and four IP were scoreless…nine of his 12 apps were scoreless, yielding one run twice and five runs in the other...Struck out 38.0 pct. (19 of 50) of batters faced...Placed on Triple-A Iowa’s injured list May 23 with an open dislocation of his left ankle…designated for assignment two days later and released on May 26…re-signed with the Cubs on a minors deal July 12 and returned to game action with the Rookie-level ACL Cubs on Sept. 7.

2020

Jason appeared in 13 games, going 2-1 with a 3.29 ERA (5 ER/13.2 IP) across two stints with the club (Aug. 16-24 and Sept. 2 through season’s end)...started the season at the South Bend alternate site...Struck out 21 batters in 13.2 innings...limited batters to a .180 average (9-for-50) and a .293 OBP...Recorded at least one strikeout in 12 of his 13 outings... Did not allow an earned run in nine-straight outings from Sept. 2-24...surrendered two unearned runs in 8.2 innings...recorded 11 strikeouts...Tossed a season-high 2.0 innings, September 5 (game one) vs. St. Louis...allowed zero hits and runs. 

2019

Posted his best season in the majors, going 3-0 with a 2.91 ERA (7 ER/21.2 IP) in 23 relief outings with Toronto ... was 1-3 with a 2.08 ERA (4 ER/17.1 IP) in 14 minor league outings...Was on the minor league injured list, April 5-July 8, with a right lat strain...Selected by Toronto, Aug. 1 and spent most of the rest of the season in the majors...Earned his first-career win, Aug. 10 vs. the Yankees (1.1 IP, 0 R)...Went 2-0 with two holds and a 0.87 ERA (1 ER/10.1 IP) in his final 12 outings beginning Sept. 2. 

2018

Made his Major League debut after beginning the season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas ... appeared in 31 games with Kansas City, posting a 6.12 ERA (22 ER/32.1 IP)...Made his major league debut, May 5 vs. Detroit ... allowed one hit and one walk in a scoreless inning of work ... did not allow a run in his first four major league outings (5.1 IP)...Allowed a career-high five runs in 0.1 inning, August 17 at the White Sox ... was his final outing of the season and raised his ERA from 4.78 to 6.12...Split the minor league season between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, going 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA (4 ER/24.0 IP) in 17 outings.