Austin Adams

Adams attended Zephyrhills High School in Zephyrhills, Florida and played college baseball at the University of South Florida. He was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the eighth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. The Angels added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.

On December 10, 2016, Adams and Kyle McGowin were traded to the Washington Nationals for infielder Danny Espinosa. He began the 2017 season with the Class-AAA Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. With the Nationals' bullpen struggling over the first half of the 2017 season, Adams was mentioned by The Washington Post in a July 12 article among several minor league pitchers the team could consider calling upon as reinforcements. Two days later, Adams was called up to the big leagues for the first time, along with Syracuse teammate Trevor Gott, after the Nationals optioned struggling left-handed reliever Sammy Solis and assigned ailing starter Joe Ross to the disabled list with an elbow sprain. Adams made his major league debut on July 15, 2017, against the Cincinnati Reds, loading the bases on an error, a walk, and a wild pitch before walking in a run and allowing a single before he was pulled from the game. Adams was optioned back to Syracuse on July 18, his earned run average still standing at infinity due to the earned run he allowed without recording an out. Adams was recalled by the Nationals on September 1, 2017, and recorded his first major league outs in an inning of relief against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 3, after loading the bases.

In 2014, a report on Scout.com took note of Adams' "loud, earth-shattering slider", describing it as a pitch "like hardly any other". Adams also throws a fastball in the 92-94 mph range. Despite an effective two-pitch mix, Adams has been noted for problems with his command, walking more than seven batters per nine innings in the first half of the 2017 season with the Class-AAA Syracuse Chiefs.