A sixth-round pick in the 2021 draft, 25-year-old right-hander Travis Adams joined the 40-man roster in November after a strong finish to the 2024 season at Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds, Adams is ranked by Baseball America as the Twins' No. 22 prospect.
Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic ranks him No. 25.
Adams' career seemed to be stuck at Wichita, where he posted a 5.66 ERA in 2023, and had a 5.00 ERA through May 2024. But something clicked in June, and he was lights out in August, posting a 0.70 ERA in five outings to earn a promotion to Triple-A.
Adams finished with a 5.21 ERA over 19 innings with St. Paul, including a 9-7 K-BB ratio in that span.
Gleeman notes that Adams offers a 93-95 mph four-seam fastball and a "deep" mix of secondaries, with his slider being the only consistent one that misses bats.
BA notes that Adams relies on a hard cutter and also throws a changeup. Nothing about Adams' arsenal or his command seemed obviously different when he went on his hot streak, yet he clearly got better results.
One factor surely in his favor: He's pitched a lot since turning pro, throwing 338 innings over 69 starts since the start of 2022.
Adams made his first-ever Spring Training appearance Saturday and was hit fairly hard by the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing four runs, five hits (all singles) and a four-pitch walk in the seventh inning.
Adams' fastball reached 95 mph and sat 93.9, right where it's supposed to be, but he allowed contact with respective expected batting averages of .460, .470 and .540. He also allowed a 99.7 mph one-hop single to top-50 prospect Konnor Griffin.
The Pirates appeared to have a collective plan of using the opposite field.
Adams did a better job as the inning continued of allowing softer contact. He was not helped by the Twins defense.
Baseball America projects Adams as a possible major league reliever in the long run, but he's likely to pitch all season for St. Paul in its rotation.
The best way to improve his chances to stick in the majors is to keep showing his durability while working on those secondary pitches. Sharpening his cutter and developing his changeup would give him huge weapons with which to handle big-league hitters.
It's going to take more time, but Adams already has shown the ability to improve if given an opportunity. Adams' improvements might not show up in his statistics until later in the season, but he still could take steps in 2025.
Something off the field to watch: Will he save anyone else's life? The highlight of Adams' year in 2024 came in March when he rescued a neighbor from a burning building.
He's a real-life hero, although he plays that down.