The Matt Adams Era is here!

The Matt Adams era was not supposed to start this early in 2012 since Lance Berkman was supposed to be a one or two year stopgap at first base. Nature had other plans in mind for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Once Berkman injured his knee last week, the Cards were quick to pull Matt Adams from his game in Memphis during the 4th inning and get him on a flight to Los Angeles. I expect that he will likely finish out the season in St. Louis and fight for the starting position at First Base come spring training next season.

I’m not surprised about the young first baseman being called up at all. Going into this season, Derrick Goold and Baseball America ranked him as the ninth best prospect in the organization and the best power hitter of the bunch.

Drafted out of Slippery Rock University in the 23rd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft, the first baseman has put up some great numbers in the minor leagues the last few seasons. Not only did he hit for power but he had a batting average that was .300 or above at every level that he played.

In making his major league debut, he became the first product from SRU to play at the Major League Baseball level. That’s not bad for the former 2011 Texas League MVP.

While at SRU, Adams recieved national player of the year honors from collegiate baseball writers for NCAA Division II in 2009. Some of the numbers that he put up that season set school records. His career numbers of .453 batting average and a slugging percentage of .746 set school records.

“We are extremely proud of Matt and glad he’s gotten the opportunity to play on the major league level,” Slippery Rock Coach Jeff Messer said through a team spokesperson. “We feel he will be very successful because his mental and physical preparation are second to none.”

Before getting called up this past week, in 37 games for Memphis, he had 9 home runs and a batting average of .340. Pujolsian numbers? Maybe. Maybe not. The AAA level is not quite the majors so it’s too early to tell just how well he will do at this level but I expect big things from the 6’3” rookie.

In four games so far at the MLB level, he’s hit 4 for 14 (.286) and just yesterday, he picked up his first career RBI.

Big things are yet to come but they will in due time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. It will be a nice one.