Ehire Adrianza won’t be a Hall of Famer, but he did have a career that would make MLB players envious.
Adrianza played for five different MLB teams, including three seasons in Atlanta. The switch-hitting utility player had only 0.8 WAR in his major league career, yet he won two World Series titles and served for ten years, a feat rarely 10% of MLB players achieve.
Ehire Adrianza’s big moment with the Braves is overshadowed.
Adrianza’s three seasons with the Braves were mostly under the radar. After all, the utility player appeared in 11 games for Atlanta in 2022 and 2023.
However, his 2021 season was strong, as he played every position except first base, catcher, and pitcher and slashed.247/.327/.401 (92 OPS+) in 209 bat appearances. Adrianza’s versatility provided the Braves with enough steadiness to keep their heads above water during the early summer months, especially on a club whose outfield had to be practically constructed from scratch.
His most important moment with the team, however, occurred in the NLCS and is frequently overshadowed by the even bigger moment that came soon after.
In the bottom of the fourth inning of Game 6, Brian Snitker went for the kill. Despite Ian Anderson only tossing 66 pitches and surrendering four baserunners, the Braves had a chance to break the 1-1 stalemate.
After a Travis d’Arnaud walk, the pitcher’s place came up. Ehire Adrianza was called in to pinch hit to keep the inning going in the hopes that the hottest hitter alive would have a chance to hit with runners on base.
On a 1-0 count, Adrianza, a lefty hitter, ripped a 92.3 MPH cutter down the line, keeping it fair by inches. Adrianza managed to turn it into a double, but d’Arnaud was stopped at third.
Nonetheless, what would become his only postseason hit in MLB paid off right away. Seven pitches later, Eddie Rosario hit a liner into the Chop House, giving the Braves a 4-1 lead.
These would be the Braves’ final runs of the series, but they would be enough. Tyler Matzek’s heroics preserved the Braves’ advantage at two, and Will Smith shut down the Dodgers in 14 innings, sending Altanta to their first World Series appearance in 22 years.
While Matzek, Rosario, and Smith have all garnered credit for their NLCS efforts, Adrianza’s double to save the fourth inning may have been the most important factor in Atlanta’s ultimate World Series victory. Given that the Braves offense was shut down for the rest of the game, Brian Snitker’s bold move to go to the bench paid off handsomely.
Adrianza earned his second career World Series ring after Atlanta defeated Houston a week and a half later, having won his first with the Giants in 2014, despite he missed the game-winning pitch due to the birth of his child.
This will not be the last time we hear about Ehire Adrianza in the baseball industry; he has been seeking a position in the front office for years, but we congratulate him on his outstanding playing career. Many major leaguers can only dream of having two rings and more than ten years of service time.
