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SAN FRANCISCO – Willy Adames couldn’t get off a throw, not with how his back had suddenly tightened up on him.
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Adames hasn’t played since Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros, tweaking his back on what should’ve been a tailor-made double play in the top of the seventh. Instead of delivering a firm throw to second base, Adames could only lob it over. He tried staying in the game, but was removed shortly after.
This marked the latest instance in which Adames, who has underperformed on both sides of the ball, has been hampered by his back. Still, he’s hoping to avoid a trip to the injured list.
“I hope not,” Adames said Saturday when asked if he needs an IL stint. “I don’t know what the plan is, but I haven’t heard anything about it. So, I don’t think that it’s going to be necessary.”
Adames underwent an MRI that revealed a mild low back strain, and while the Giants initially labeled Adames as being day-to-day, the team is going to take the cautious approach.
“Probably a little bit more of a transition from the day-to-day status to a little bit of a plan to get him to where we’re not two steps forward, one step back,” said manager Tony Vitello. “Or having any regrets that he’s out there today and tomorrow happens to be a day where he feels it pulling on him a little bit.
“So, I don’t think anything clearly defined other than a little bit more of, ‘Let’s make sure we have a pretty good stack of a handful of days of not doing anything, and then not just jump right back into it and build into it.’”
Wednesday’s game wasn’t the first time Adames left early due to a back ailment. On June 28, he exited the Giants’ matinee against the Atlanta Braves due to back spasms after striking out. Adames missed San Francisco’s next three games against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, but returned without landing on the injured list.
The lingering discomfort has clearly affected Adames’ performance. At the plate, he’s posting the second-lowest batting average (.217) and lowest OPS (.697) of his career. With the glove, he’s been worth minuus-14 outs above average (a range-based stat), the third-fewest in the majors.
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San Francisco has long been out of contention, and Adames’ partner on the left side of the infield recently underwent season-ending surgery. The team’s priority should be making sure Adames, who turns 31 next month, completely heals from his injury, especially something as serious as a back injury.
Adames, though, wants to get back on the field and finish his year on his own terms. His goals from now until September are simple: get back to being himself, have some fun however he can, help the Giants’ younger players and grow as a group.
“It’s obviously something that might be the first time that I’ve been dealing with for this long,” Adames said. “It’s part of the job. Sometimes, the body’s not going to be 100 percent. I’m trying to find a way to do my job without thinking about it. Sometimes, you just can’t get rid of it. These few days might help to get that done. Hopefully, I can finish the year the way I want to.”
Adames hasn’t just fought his lingering back issue in recent weeks, but accusations of a subpar work ethic. On July 31, Apple TV play-by-play broadcaster Wayne Randazzo told a national audience, “[Infield coach Ron Washington] said it’s been a little bit harder to get Willy Adames to commit to the work day in and day out, but Adames has been doing it lately.”
“He said you could see the improvements,” Randazzo continued. “Tony Vitello even said that whenever you see Adames and Wash work one-on-one, for the next two or three games, Adames is a much better defensive player.”
Vitello fervently defended Adames the day after the broadcast, and Adames was plenty displeased with how he was framed.
“It was not frustrating; it was disappointing,” Adames said. “People just come over here without knowing what the heck’s going on over here and just start talking a bunch of nonsense. That’s something that I wouldn’t consider professional when you speak like that without knowing the facts. It’s disappointing.”
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This story was originally published August 16, 2026 at 11:44 AM.