Willy Adames chooses to end bid for 162 games started amid offensive slump

In a season for the Milwaukee Brewers that has been filled to the brim with notable storylines, one of the more prominent ones to monitor as the year has gone on is Willy Adames and his bid for becoming the first Brewers iron man since 2011.

For those unfamiliar, a baseball player earns the "iron man" title by appearing in all 162 regular season games for his team. This does not necessarily mean the player started every game, but as long as he registered at least one at-bat or appeared in the field for at least one out, their bid at an increasingly rare accomplishment will continue.

Adames has been loud and proud about his pursuit of this. As a pending free agent, it's not hard to find a multitude of reasons why he wants to chase this. He's set to become one of the more sought after position player free agents in the next few months, so being able to say he is as durable as they come is definitely a strong selling point.

Prior to Thursday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Brewers released their starting lineup (X link here) and there's a very rare change at the shortstop position. Adames is not scheduled to start the game and rookie Joey Ortiz will take his place in the lineup. This would end Adames' chase for 162.

Willy Adames chooses to end his run at 162 starts

As relayed by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, Adames made the choice on his own to have him out of Thursday's lineup. The star shortstop is going through an offensive slump and is choosing to have his own goals take a back seat for what's best for the team.

Before we go on, it's important to note that Adames won't be in the starting lineup, but he could still make a late-game appearance. This would continue his chase for 162 games, he'd just have to settle for 161 games started. Still an impressive feat either way.

Since a strong performance on Sept. 14 against these very same Diamondbacks where he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI, Adames has run into a bit of a cold streak at the dish. From that game on, he's gone just 1-for-16 (.063) with a double, two RBI, one walk and 10 strikeouts.

The Brewers may have clinched the top spot in the NL Central, but they still need to remain competitive as they seek a first-round bye in the postseason. Having Adames' black hole of a bat in the lineup may require a (very temporary) change. It'd be cool to see him achieve his goal of 162 games played, but it's also important to do what's best for the team. He is truly showing how classy he is and how much respect he has for Brewers baseball by pressing pause so he can reset.