Out of all the players in the Padres organization who are playing in a winter league, only one of them is playing in the Australian Baseball League. Australia-born outfielder Corey Adamson is playing for the Perth Heat for the fourth consecutive season. Adamson has spent his last five summers slowly working his way up the Padres' ladder, finally reaching Lake Elsinore last season.
The left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing Adamson has had more success back home than he has in the states. After a poor showing in his ABL rookie season of 2010, when he collected only a single in 26 at-bats over nine games, he has hit .325 and .321 the past two seasons and is hitting .318 after his first 22 at-bats this season. He was a member of the 2011 ABL championship team, but had his most personally productive season the next year. Adamson played in 35 games last winter, with a personal high of 10 doubles to go along with his only home run and only two triples of his ABL career.
Adamson's best season in the United States so far was the most recent one. He hit .269 in 99 games for the Fort Wayne TinCaps before moving west to the Lake Elsinore Storm, for whom he hit exactly .300 in 70 at-bats over 18 games. His combined totals added up to career highs in every single offensive category you can imagine. He slashed .274/ .365/ .376 with 17 doubles, eight triples, and three homers. Adamson's 32 steals were nearly double his previous high of 17, set the year before.
Corey is a second-generation star for the Perth Heat. His father Tony starred for the team from the late-eighties through the mid-nineties and retired as the league's all-time home run leader at just the age of 31. The son didn't inherit his dad's power but he's making his name his own way.
