Newest Trav Adams ready to make mark on Class AA

Arkansas left fielder Caleb Adams went 2 for 5 with an RBI as the Travelers fell to the Corpus Christi Hooks 10-2 on Wednesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Arkansas left fielder Caleb Adams went 2 for 5 with an RBI as the Travelers fell to the Corpus Christi Hooks 10-2 on Wednesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Caleb Adams has heard the same thing as most regarding what Class AA means in terms of progress toward a major league roster.

"Once you figure it out here," Adams said before his Class AA debut Wednesday, "you're ready."

With that in mind, Adams feels a sense of accomplishment by being placed on the Arkansas Travelers' roster this week, his second in-season promotion in the past two years.

But that doesn't mean the Texarkana-born Adams is changing an approach that got him to this point.

Adams, 23, is essentially on the front porch of a final leap to one day appearing in the major leagues, but he knows he still has to perform. That means staying with a mentality that made him an All-Sun Belt Conference player at Louisiana-Lafayette, a 10th-round pick by the Anaheim Angels in 2014 and a 2015 season that ended with an invite to the Arizona Fall League.

A bio on MLBpipeline.com, which tracks and ranks prospects, said Adams' style of play has quickly impressed Angels executives.

"I think [about] just competing all the time," he said. "I take pride in not taking a play off. I play to win. If I hit a ground ball right at the shortstop, my goal is to try to beat the ball to first base or force him to mess up.

"Really, I just want to win every at bat, every pitch, every game we play."

Adams showed that early Wednesday. Hitting second and playing left field, Adams legged out an infield single in the first inning and moved to third on a single before being stranded. Later, his bloop single drove in a run as he finished 2-for-5 in the Travs' 10-2 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Arkansas Manager Mark Parent liked the first look he got from his new outfielder and said even after five at bats -- Adams struck out as a pinch hitter Tuesday night -- he agrees with Adams' reputation. Parent also thinks the Class AA Texas League is a perfect level for a player who hit .289 through 50 games in Class A Inland Empire, where some deficiencies can be covered.

Through the rest of this season, Parent said Adams needs to concentrate on seeing the ball out of the pitcher's hand and making contact with two strikes. Adams struck out three times Wednesday night.

"It's a good level for a lot of people, because you can see if you actually have a shot or not," Parent said. "It's Game 2, it's the first game he got to start, so we'll see."

Adams will get to see how much he's progressed in front of a handful of friends and family members, too.

His mother, he said, lived on the Texas side of Texarkana, and his father on the Arkansas side. He has aunts, uncles and cousins that live in Little Rock and Conway. On Wednesday, he played in front of several family members, a rarity for players making their way through the minor leagues.

"Some people don't get the opportunity," he said. "I'm just lucky enough I'm with the Angels and the Angels are here and I've worked my way to this level. It's great."

It'll be even better, he said, if the local stop is just another on his route up in the organization. Some have compared his tools and approach at this point in his career to another Angels' outfielder -- Kole Calhoun, who won a Gold Glove last season. Adams said he doesn't put much into the comparisons, but he's heard them and would be just fine if his career is headed in the same direction.

"If I ever get to that level and am playing as well as him, that'll be huge," he said. "You can't think about forcing anything to happen, or trying to control something you can't control. I'm just going to sit back and relax and play ball and whatever happens, happens."

Sports on 06/02/2016

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