Lance Berkman injury could lead to Matt Adams call up

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman injured his right knee after stretching to get to a throw from shortstop Rafael Furcal. The veteran slugger could be headed to the DL, but the Cardinals don’t know how serious the injury is yet.

Berkman will probably be headed to the disabled list as a result of the injury, but the severity of it isn’t known and Berkman has had knee troubles in the past that hindered him in 2010. The team will evaluate him, and Berkman has only been able to play in 48 plate appearances this season and was injured earlier this year. ZiPS projects him to be worth 2.5 WAR.

This brings up the next bit of information pertaining to first basemen on the St. Louis Cardinals, and that is first base prospect Matt Adams. He was pulled from a AAA game in the fourth inning and could be playing at first today. Adams will likely be promoted if Lance Berkman and his career 146 wRC+ self hits the DL.

Matt Adams is 23 and is tearing it up at Memphis this year. He has a .338/.373/.597 triple slash with nine dingers and 27 RBIs. He hit 32 home runs with a nice batting average in Double-A, but he struggles against southpaws and should ideally stay in AAA for a little longer. Still, he has power, and his terrific hitting has allowed him to rise and become one of the team’s top ten prospects. Adams used to play catcher, so he’s still learning the ropes at first defensively. His defense, however, won’t be an issue. Adams can be a 3 WAR first baseman at the big league level with his decent defense and good hitting.

Here’s what Wally Fish of FanSided’s Seedlings to Stars said about Matt Adams:

"“Adams has hit 54 HR in the last two seasons combined. As his 2011 Texas League MVP award can attest, he handled the jump from Low-A to Double-A and didn’t skip a beat. Adams has hit better than 0.300 at all four stops, held serve on his 2010 OBP and increased his SLG for the 3rd year in a row. He struggled in the AFL with a disappointing 28-3 SO-to-BB but he’s otherwise shown an above average K% for a power bat and had the best BB% of his career in 2011. At 6’3″ and 230 lbs he’s a big boy, doesn’t run that well and has subpar range but he’s developed into a solid defensive 1B overall. Given the improvement he’s shown each season while moving up the ladder there’s little reason to believe he will  fall short of his projection as a solid to above-average everyday 1B in the majors.”"

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