Giants coach calls out Willy Adames for lack of defensive buy-in

The San Francisco Giants can’t catch a break right now.

On the same day that the 47-63 team decided to suspend Harrison Bader’s pay after he drunkenly crashed his scooter into a fire truck (which then ran over his foot) and lost 7-0 to the San Diego Padres, star infielder Willy Adames’ defensive buy-in was called into question on national television.

At one point during Friday night’s game, an Apple TV broadcast commentator said, “[Giants infield coach Ron Washington] said it has 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.”

The commentator then added that Giants manager Tony Vitello has said that whenever he sees Washington and Adames working one-on-one together, Adames shows a clear defensive improvement in the games afterwards.

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Dieter Kurtenbach of the San Jose Mercury News posted a clip of these comments to his X account on Friday night, which have since gone viral.

While this wasn’t included in the clip, it’s important to note that Adames has been dealing with back issues throughout the season, which has reportedly limited what he’s able to do during practice days.

Still, a Giants coach (especially someone as respected around the league as Ron Washington) apparently having a hard time getting Adames “to commit to the work” is not a good look for this struggling team.

Injury or otherwise, Adames has had a brutal defensive season. His -10 Fielding Run Value is the worst in the league at his position, as is his range. He had a +4 Fielding Run Value during the 2025 season.

Adames currently is hitting .225 with 18 home runs and a .701 OPS.

The Giants are expected to be shopping Adames on the market as the trade deadline nears, but this won’t help his trade stock.