Matt Adams, 1B/OF

Primary Position: First Baseman

Bat/Throw: L/R

Age: 31 (August 31, 1988)

Acquired: Minor League contract signed on 1/31/2020

To the surprise of many, it was announced that Matt Adams and the Mets agreed to terms on a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training. A move that may seem out of the blue as of now, is one that can pay off in the long run.

Adams, also known as “Big City,” was born in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. He played his high school ball at Philipsburg-Osceola HS, and attended Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, a Div. II school. In his senior season, Adams received second team All-America honors. He also batted a whopping .438, and slugged .708 in his senior season.

Once Adams wrapped up his senior season, the power hitting lefty was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2009 draft by the St.Louis Cardinals. Coming into an organization with Albert Pujols as the first baseman, it seemed as if Adams was going to take a while to get the call to the bigs, but it didn’t. After tearing up the minors in 2011, where he hit 32 home runs and drove in 101 runs in Double-A, Adams made his Major League debut on May 20, 2012. He became more of a consistent presence with St. Louis in 2013, hitting .284 with 17 long balls and 52 RBI in 296 at-bats. 2014 was his first full season as the primary first baseman. Adams logged a WAR of 2.4, while hitting .288 and driving in 68 runs, both of which are his current career highs. In 527 at-bats, Adams also struck out a total of 114 times.

After spending just over five seasons with the Cardinals, he was shipped to Atlanta for minor leaguer Juan Yepez. During his brief stint with the NL East foe, he crushed 19 homers and drove in 58 runs, while hitting .271. He was also a solid glove at first with 2 DRS.

He spent most of 2018 with the Washington Nationals, and was then claimed off waivers by the Cardinals. He then returned to Washington in 2019, where he was a member of the World Series roster, appearing in one game.

Key Numbers:

Adams has become one of the more reliable pinch hitters in the game. Big City leads all active players in pinch-hit home runs with 11.

2020 Outlook:

Bodie Van Wagenen came into the general manager’s position preaching depth and versatility, and Adams brings that. Obviously Pete Alonso is going to play the majority of the games at first, barring injury. 

This deal for Adams is a “prove it” type of situation. With position players reporting to Spring Training in just a few weeks, Adams is ultimately coming in as the starting Triple-A first baseman, barring any trades of Dominic Smith, or Jed Lowrie. Both Smith and Adams are similar in a sense that they are both primary first baseman, but could be put out at either of the corner outfield positions, although the defense in the outfield isn’t anything special.

Matt Adams is looking to prove himself in 2020. He is a guy who could probably benefit from having the rosters expand to 26, as his pinch-hitting success is a tool that could be the key to earning a roster spot in Queens.