Ahead of the 2018 Draft, Jordyn Adams was a four-star high school wide receiver set to play both baseball and football if he made it to campus at the University of North Carolina. The 26-year-old has long utilized that premium athleticism across the Minor Leagues since signing as the 17th overall pick that summer.
But even this was something else. The Brewers outfielder used that nose for the pylon and ability to high-point the ball to make a game-ending home run robbery for Triple-A Nashville on Thursday night en route to a 6-5 win over Iowa at First Horizon Park.
Another defensive specialist, Justin Dean, was at the dish in the top of the ninth. The Cubs outfielder took an 0-2 fastball from right-hander Reiss Knehr and sent it toward the right-field fence. The ball went 319 feet -- Dean needed it to go 320.
Adams, timing his leap perfectly, knocked the ball back toward the field of play before quickly recovering to catch it himself, a la a perfectly executed tip drill. But he also had the wherewithal to notice that the runner at first base was scrambling back. Adams unleashed a throw on the money to first baseman Brock Wilken, who tagged Christian Bethancourt to end the game.
Dean did receive an RBI on the play as the runner from third successfully tagged up and scored. But as he knows well from his own illustrious Minor League tenure of taking away hits, sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
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Adams, after all, is no stranger to making top-tier grabs in the outfield. During his tenure in the Angels’ system, he made ones of the diving variety. Ones in which he soared through the air. Ones in which he broke out his best Ken Griffey Jr. foot-into-the wall impression.
But a game-winner that he brought back? Nearly impossible to top. Sometimes the outfielders just have to go up and get it.