Iowa's Jake Adams catching the attention of big league teams

Tommy Birch | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Jake Adams provides unprecedented Hawkeyes power Jake Adams is tied for the national lead in home runs in 2017, and he's also tied the Big Ten Conference's all-time single-season record.

With every home run during his historic season at Iowa, Hawkeyes first baseman Jake Adams seemed to catch the attention of more and more people.

By the time he belted his single-season school record 27th home run of the season, many Major League Baseball teams had taken notice.

Adams has propelled himself into possibly being selected in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft that takes place June 12-14.

“He’s done what he can do,” said Baseball America Editor-in-Chief John Manuel. “I definitely think he’s played his way into single digits because of the power.”

The power has always been there for Adams, who smacked 17 home runs as a freshman at Des Moines Area Community College and 25 for the Bears as a sophomore. The power is what could draw a team to select Adams early in the draft.

“When you’re getting Adams, you’re getting the power bat; that’s why you’re drafting him,” said MLB.com and MLBPipeline.com senior writer Jim Callis.

While his bat will be what attracts teams to Adams, his glove may be what scares them away. Questions still surround the 6-foot-2, 250-pound junior’s ability to play first base. His lack of versatility may leave first base and a role as a designated hitter as his only options at the professional level.

“To me, he looks like he’d be an American League guy,” said one National League scout. “I don’t know where you might play him — if he’s good enough to play first base, I don’t know. So, it seems like his bat would be more of an American League bat than a National League one to me.”

Still, Adams’ power has been so good that some teams may be willing to overlook his defensive liabilities.

“He hit 25 home runs,” the scout said. “Someone should be taking a look at you.”

Adams will get plenty of looks, and his name is likely to be called. But where? Manuel said most right-handed, power-hitting first basemen in the majors typically came up playing other positons. Albert Pujols came up a third baseman. Adams has been limited to first base.

What will make things even more difficult for Adams is that the draft will be loaded with power-hitting first basemen.

“This not a college class with ton of athletes in it,” Manuel said. “It’s a college class where all the best hitters are first basemen.”

Adams still has time to make his case. The Hawkeyes open NCAA Tournament play Friday against top-seed Houston. Baylor and Texas A&M are also in the regional. All three teams offer tough tests for Adams at the plate.

"He's going to see interesting pitching," Manuel said. "He's going to see consistent velocity. He's going to see competitive games. He's going to get scouted again by scouts who haven't seen him before. So, it's going be one last look at him at this regional. So, we'll see what he can do with that."

Regardless of where Adams goes in the draft, once he does start his professional career, he'll have to show he can hit at the professional level.

"He's big and he's got some raw power that obviously translated into a lot of home runs this year, but he's also probably one of those guys that's going to have to prove himself at every level," Callis said.