Milwaukee Brewers' Willy Adames Surges Up Historic Leaderboard With Multi-Home Run Game

Willy Adames racked up five RBI against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, moving the Milwaukee Brewers shortstop closer to Ernie Banks on one historic list.

Sep 14, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (27) gets ready to hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at Chase Field. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers were already putting a pretty decent beatdown on the Arizona Diamondbacks midway through the second inning on Saturday, holding onto a 4-0 advantage.

Then, Willy Adames doubled the lead with one swing of the bat, crushing a grand slam 379 feet to left-center. The star shortstop didn't let things stop there either, as he went back-to-back with Garrett Mitchell in the fourth inning to make it a 12-0 ballgame.

Milwaukee went on to win 15-8, while Adames finished the evening 3-for-3 with two home runs, five RBI and a walk.

Adames is now batting .253 with 32 home runs, 107 RBI, 18 stolen bases, an .810 OPS and a 3.3 WAR on the season.

According to TSN's StatsCentre, Adames used his five-RBI performance to become the fourth shortstop in National League history to record at least 30 home runs and 105 RBI in a single season. He is the first to achieve the feat since Trevor Story in 2018.

Before Troy Tulowitzki joined the club in 2011, its sole member was Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks. Banks had four such seasons in his career, most notably doing so in both his 1958 and 1959 MVP campaigns.

Most RBI in a season by a 30+ home run hitting (primary) shortstop in the National League:
143- Ernie Banks (1959)
129- Banks (1958)
117- Banks ('55)
117- Banks ('60)
108- Trevor Story ('18)
105- @Brewers Willy Adames (2024 via his 5 on Saturday vs ARI)
105- Troy Tulowitzki ('11) pic.twitter.com/dYyaDeuEDy

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) September 15, 2024

Adames hardly has a fraction of the reputation that Banks did in his day, but he has been one of the top slugging shortstops in the game for a few years running now. Since the start of the 2019 season, which includes his early days with the Tampa Bay Rays, Adames ranks third in home runs among MLB shortstops, trailing only Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager.

With 14 games left in the regular season – and his contract set to expire at the end of the year – Adames only needs to drive in a four more runs to surge past Tulowizki and Story on the leaderboards. Adames is on pace to finish 2024 with 35 home runs and 117 RBI, which would slot him alongside Banks and nobody else in the NL history books.

Adames and the Brewers will close out their series with the Diamondbacks at 4:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, needing just three more wins to secure the NL Central crown.

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