After playing seven games with the Rockies in 2014, infielder Cristhian Adames got a bit of a longer look from the club in 2015, garnering 58 plate appearances in 26 games after rosters expanded in September.
Adames hit .245/.298/.302 with a double and a triple in 53 at bats with the Rockies in 2015, walking three times and striking out 11 times, his 19 percent strikeout rate coming seventh-best among the 19 Rockies position players with at least 50 plate appearances in 2015.
Defensively, Adames started 13 games, 11 of them at shortstop with the other two coming at second base, making a pair of errors. Attempting to judge Adames with any of the more advanced defensive metrics would be a futile exercise with just a 13-game sample, though the eye test said he looked generally competent to above-average with the glove.
Though all of Adames' playing time with the Rockies came in September, he was with the team prior to roster expansion for about 24 hours as the Rockies awaited Jose Reyes' arrival after the Troy Tulowitzki trade.
The real success for Adames in 2015 came at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he hit .311/.362/.468 with 34 extra-base hits, 11 of them home runs, in 116 games. In addition to playing shortstop and second base as he did in the majors, Adames played 15 games at third base in Triple-A this season.
His performance with the Isotopes earned Adames a trip to the Triple-A All-Star game in Omaha, where he homered against Durham Bulls reliever Jhan Martinez.
Adames' 2016 outlook
Things are a bit up in the air at the middle infield spots for the Rockies after the trade of Tulowitzki, though Adames should have a chance to break camp with them in 2016, especially if the team offloads Reyes in the offseason.
Adames' chances at a roster spot are diminished somewhat by the presence of veteran Daniel Descalso, who is slated to make $2.1 million in 2016 after hiitting .205/.283/.324 in 185 at bats in 2015. Adames' best chance to make the Rockies out of spring training would be for the team to move Reyes over the winter and decide that prospect Trevor Story needs more seasoning in the minor leagues.