Anatomy Of An At-Bat: Jason Adam Makes The Most Out Of A Terrible Matchup In The All-Star Game

[Greg Spicer]

Coming into the 2025 All-Star Game with five different representatives, San Diego was poised to make their mark on this year's mid-summer classic. Unexpectedly, the lone Padres highlight of the night came from the player who participated in just one at-bat. 

Star reliever Jason Adam was given his moment at the top of the second inning, and he didn’t disappoint. The National League had already taken a two-run lead thanks to a Ketel Marte double in the first inning, and the NL squad was hoping to shut the door on an early game comeback. 

To do this, N.L. manager Dave Roberts sent out his legendary ace, Clayton Kershaw, of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Someone Padres fans know all too well. The game plan was for Kershaw to get two batters, then have a reliever come in and get the last out of the inning. 

Making Adams' job easier, Kershaw was able to get the first two batters out. He got started by enjoying some help from his defense as Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker made a sliding grab on a 326-foot, 102 mph laser beam from Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Following that, Kershaw settled in and struck out Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

After a long, well-earned standing ovation for Kershaw, Adam took the mound looking to give the N.L. a clean inning. Coming up to the plate, though, was Orioles lefty slugger Ryan O'Hearn. This matchup featured two players over the age of 30 competing in their first All-Star games, so the hunger was real. 

Statistically, Adam has had a stellar year. In 47.2 innings, he has a 2.89 FIP, 25.7 K%, and 10.4 BB%. He has also managed to produce these stats despite an unlucky .289 BABIP. In his way, though, was a righty hunter in O’Hearn. Nobody can be sure why National League manager Roberts gave Jason Adam the worst possible matchup for his only at-bat. Still, we can guess that the lowered stakes of an exhibition All-Star Game limited the strategic aspect of the manager's decision-making. 

O’Hearn has an eye-popping .286/.382/.458 slash line on the season, and his wRC+ skyrockets from an 81 against lefties to a 150 against righties. The good news for Adam, however, was that he had fared just as well in this type of matchup. In 2025, lefties are hitting a .244 wOBA against him, with just a .160 batting average. This battle gave us an unstoppable force against an immovable object, and something had to give. 

To start the at-bat, Adam dotted a 94 mph fastball on the outside corner. Unsurprisingly, O’Hearn laid off this pitch. At 28.2%, he has one of the lowest first pitch swing percentages among qualified hitters. From Adam’s side, this pitch was 0.5 mph lower than his season fastball average of 94.5, but the first pitch strike was a welcome sign. Adam’s first pitch strike percentage is at just 53.7% on the season, a 7.4% decrease from 2024. Getting ahead against an elite hitter in the All-Star Game was a much-needed start. 

Adam then looked to his off-speed to get him through the at-bat. With the count at 0-1, he threw an 87.1 mph change-up that missed just off the upper outside part of the plate. Pitchers often use this fastball/change-up combo when facing hitters of the opposite hand, and Adam is no different. 70% of his change-ups in 2025 have been thrown to lefties.  

O’Hearn, taking the first attempt, wasn’t going to stop Adam from trying again. His change-up is one of MLB's best, allowing just a .278 wOBA on the year, and O’Hearn has struggled to the tune of a .161 wOBA against the change-up this season. Those numbers were too favorable not to give it another attempt. 

By lowering the location of the next pitch, Adam was able to fool O’Hearn. The 86.8 mph change-up got a swing and miss from the Orioles' lefty and gave Adam a 1-2 advantage.  

After gearing O’Hearn’s mind towards off-speed, Adam then tried to speed it back up and blow a fastball by him for strike three. Unfortunately, this pitch appeared to slip out of the hand and launch way off the plate at 94.4 mph. After a nice stop by Dodgers catcher, Will Smith, Adam looked to lock back in. 

The count was now even at 2-2, and facing one of the league's most potent bats, Adam needed to attack with his best stuff. He decided to stick with what had already worked once and throw a change-up on the low middle edge of the plate. Despite Adam dropping the mph to 86.1, O’Hearn was able to sit back and rope a line drive down the first baseline. Thankfully, the hit curved foul by a couple of feet, and the Padres star was given another chance to sit O’Hearn down. 

Adam was in a tricky spot now. He was facing a lefty killer and had already thrown two of his highest usage pitches (34.7% change-up and 20.4% fastball) multiple times. With that said, he still had his best trick up his sleeve, a nasty slider. 

The slider is Adam’s highest usage pitch at 36.3% and his best pitch with a 29.3 put-away percentage. The counterargument is that a significant portion (61%) of that usage has been against right-handed players. Throwing breaking balls to opposite-handed hitters isn’t a common strategy in MLB and has to be well-executed for it to work. 

With no options left, Adam tossed his slowest pitch of the inning, an 83.5 mph slider, ideally on the furthest part of the outside corner of the plate. O’Hearn was left shocked seeing a pitch that looked headed towards the backstop cut in so sharply and nick the strike zone. Although the American League had a challenge left, O’Hearn knew it was hopeless. He had been fooled by an unhittable slider that didn’t touch the strike zone until the last possible millisecond. 

Adam strutted off the field looking satisfied with his performance, having given Padres fans a moment of pride in what was otherwise an uneventful game from the San Diego representatives. 

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