St. Louis Cardinals: Brandon Moss and Matt Adams ready to rebound

Matt Adams

Matt has been the topic of a lot discussion this offseason for the Cardinals, I even talked about trusting in Adams before he even came off of the DL in the 2015 season. Adams is an intriguing player, as he was one of the Cardinals top prospects for some time, and has shown “BIG” power potential. On the flip side, Adams has shown an inability to lay off anything down and in or down and out in front of the plate.

This is something that has plagued him his whole career. I can’t tell you how many times I have yelled, “what are you swinging at?!?!” at my television before. Adams has shown a bit of a unique ability to be able to poke the ball the other way when he is pitched away, but this has also hurt him as when he is shifted he seems to intentionally try to go the other way, whether be it by bunting or making weak contact. This inevitably saps the power in his bat.

Coming into 2016, Adams is committed to improving this, as he tells Brian Stull of STL Baseball Weekly, “I worked with (Mabry) about driving the ball better to left center and that’s going to help out a lot better too with the shift–making sure if I get a ball on the outside I’m not trying to do to much with it and pull it. Just let it get to the spot where I can drive it to the gap in left field.” This is really good to hear, as this could be the key to a successful 2016 campaign for Adams.

Adams has also been working hard to get in better shape, telling Brian Stull, “I put more muscle on–leaned up a little bit,” this is welcome news as well, as he will help Adams drive the ball better and become more athletic in the field and allow him to make some impact on the base paths. All in all “Big City” seems committed to proving himself in 2016.

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