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St. Louis Cardinals May be better off Without Matt Adams

By Josh Sippie

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You’d never root for a guy to get injured or celebrate when something bad happens, but it is acceptable to find the positives in the wake of an injury. Matt Adams may miss the remainder of the season after having surgery on his quad, and that’s unfortunate for the first baseman, but in the long run, the St. Louis Cardinals may be better off without him.

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For starters, Matt Adams size has never really translated into the power that is supposed to accompany a first baseman. The most home runs he’s ever hit in his young career is 17, which is by no means a bad number, but the 51 RBIs that accompany it don’t exactly make the most irreplaceable numbers. This season he was off to an incredibly slow start, with just four home runs and 20 RBIs. In fact, those four home runs placed him 12th among National League first basemen and his RBIs are 11th.

The average first baseman hits with a slash line of .264/.344/.460. Matt Adams on the other hand has a slash line of .243/.281/.375 (via CBS Sports). Again, he’s well below the mark to be hitting in the middle of the order of the ‘best team in baseball.’

Stepping in to replace Matt Adams is Mark Reynolds. Reynolds is best remembered for his 2009 season when he hit 44 home runs and 102 RBIs. He was a power (and strikeout) machine in Arizona but he’s never really been able to return to that solid form, despite still posting decent enough power numbers wherever he went.

Comparing the two, the Cardinals may be better off with Mark Reynolds. Firstly Reynolds only has 99 at-bats compared to Matt Adams 144, and yet Reynolds 3 home runs and 13 RBIs aren’t exactly that far behind Matt Adams power stats.

Matt Adams was always a much more successful hitter against right-handed pitching, but his OPS against RHP had fallen off in 2015 too. In his previous two season, Adams boasted an .862 OPS whereas so far into this season he’s only managed .683 (via the Post Dispatch). Plus, as far as a starting first baseman goes, you’d ideally like a guy that can hit both right and left handed pitchers.

So again, the loss isn’t exactly going to hurt the Cardinals in that many ways. But not only will it not hurt them, it could help them.

Mark Reynolds was one of the most feared power bats in the Major Leagues during his prime, and at just 31 years old, that power can be utilized again. While his batting average has tapered off since being a set-in-stone starter in Arizona, his power never really has. Being a starter again, he may very well pull a respectable .240 average out of his hat with a much better power line than Matt Adams could have produced.

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Not only that, but the St. Louis Cardinals are now open to exploring options at first base. While starting pitching remains their primary concern, there are plenty of first-base candidates on the trade market and who doesn’t want to play for the St. Louis Cardinals?

The most obvious candidate is Ryan Howard, being a native St. Louisan, but he’s going to remain a Philly until they’re ready to eat a chunk of his salary. The point is, options are out there, and given how low Matt Adams ranked statistically among first basemen, very few starting-quality first basemen won’t be an upgrade.

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