[討論] 經過8年挫折跟手術 Jason Adam即將登場
The story of Royals reliever Jason Adam’s first major-league call-up begins
in a barber’s chair in Nebraska.
It has to.
In that chair on Friday morning, Adam, a right-handed pitcher from Overland
Park who was promoted to Class AAA Omaha a mere 10 days ago, learned for the
first time in his nearly eight-year professional career that a major-league
team wanted him on its roster.
He had spent his previous three seasons rehabbing from a series of four elbow
surgeries on the arm that made him the Royals’ fifth-round draft pick in
2010 out of Blue Valley Northwest. He’d been traded from Kansas City to the
Twins for Josh Willingham in 2014. He’d missed the 2015 and '16 seasons
rehabbing and suffered a setback with the Padres last spring training that
limited him to 13 late-season outings.
In spite of it all, the Royals wanted him to join their bullpen at Kauffman
Stadium for Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers. They had just
made room on their 40-man roster to select his contract after out-righting
Brandon Maurer and optioning Scott Barlow to Class AAA Omaha.
Relief washed over Adam.
The chair provided him a respite — once he’d gotten over the initial dread
that accompanied the phone call, anyway.
“I call (Omaha manager Brian Poldberg) and he goes, ‘I know I had to give
you this news a couple years ago but we traded you again,’” Adam said. “I
go, ‘You can’t be serious.’ He goes, ‘No, I’m kidding. You’re going to
KC.’ I was speechless.”
You can’t fault him that. Adam is 26, and he’s already been a free agent
twice. When doctors had to go back into his elbow for a fourth surgery prior
to the 2015 season — this one placed one screw that still holds the
once-fractured elbow together — a major-league debut seemed unrealistic.
Adam couldn’t think of much beyond “crazy" as an accurate description of
his emotions.
“I wish I could put it into words,” he said. “You dream about this day
since you’re 8 years old. But to have it be in your hometown — it’s crazy.
I can’t explain it.”
At this point, he doesn’t need to. His winding journey has done much of that
for him.
“That’ll say something about his character when he steps on that mound, too,
” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “That he’s a fighter, he’s a competitor
and he’s gonna go out and do everything he can be to be successful.”
In recent months, Adam has been so successful that the Royals began keeping
closer tabs on him. They signed him back in August, just four days after the
Padres released him following his only outing with their Class AA affiliate.
A Royals pitching coordinator had seen Adam pitching during his rehab in
Arizona and puzzled over Adam’s release.
“We always keep tabs on the guys we trade,” said Royals assistant general
manager Scott Sharp.
The Royals saw potential. Adam pitched in seven games with their Class AA
Northwest Arkansas club at the end of the season and returned to the Naturals
after spring training.
Since then, Adam has posted a 1.00 ERA in 10 games spanning 18 innings
between stints at Northwest Arkansas and Omaha. He has reached 97 mph with
his fastball and thrown a curveball that helped him limit batters to a .119
batting average and rack up 26 strikeouts.
Maurer, the struggling reliever optioned down to Omaha last month, was
nowhere near ready to rejoin the major-league club. He had a 13.50 ERA in
seven outings when the Royals took him off their 40-man roster on Thursday.
And Barlow, who pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief for the Royals in two games
this week, needed consistent work as a starter in Omaha’s rotation to
continue his development.
So it was that Adam, who was a starter before the stress fracture derailed
his career, became the next man to help shore up the Royals bullpen.
“I feel like everything’s come full circle. It’s been really fun to see,”
said Adam, who went through with a haircut before he left the barber's chair
and apprised his wife and family of the news.
It has been for his teammates, too. Second baseman Whit Merrifield, a member
of the same 2010 draft class, engulfed Adam in a bear hug as soon as Adam
checked in with Yost upon arrival at Kauffman Stadium.
Merrifield hadn’t seen Adam since spring training, when the pitcher slept on
a pull-out couch in Merrifield's living room.
“One of my best guys,” Merrifield said. “I’m glad he’s here.”
當年拿他去交易老漢...
經過好幾年的沉淪跟手術
愛盾終於有機會在家鄉球隊亮相....感動
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