St. Louis Cardinals: Souring on Matt Adams

Over the course of the offseason we heard all about how the Cardinals were going to have a stiff competition at first base. Now that the season has started, it is clear one first baseman needs to go.

I will admit, I was very optimistic about the upcoming season for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Adams. I was drinking the kool-aid believing that he had changed his approach and was finally going to become the hitter we all thought he was going to be. While not much can be taken from 15 at-bats, what we have seen is the same ole Matt Adams.

The same Matt Adams who swings at anything below the knees. The same Matt Adams who can’t take advantage of a cookie cutter fastball in his happy zone. Adams may have slimmed down over the offseason and may have tried to change his approach some, but ultimately the results are showing that he has gone right back to where he was before his injury last season.

In his fifteen at-bats, Adams is sitting with just two hits and seven strikeouts (both hits being singles). He stands with a 46.7% K% and is ultimately losing the biggest opportunity of his career, as first base is still an open competition.

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To the fans clamoring for a trade of Adams, there is no way another team has any sort of value for Adams, so the best thing for the Cardinals to do right now is to send him down.

The first base job should be a combo of Matt Holliday and Brandon Moss from now on and there is no way Adams should be anywhere near the starting lineup or pinch hitting in a big moment like he was last night.

The Cardinals will likely be quick to send down the hot hitting Aledmys Diaz when Ruben Tejada potentially comes available to return from injury this weekend, but they won’t send down Adams who simply looks lost yet again.

Much like the Boston Red Sox have done with Allen Craig, it is time for the Cardinals to attempt to build some trade value by putting Adams in AAA and hope that someone can take him off of their hands.

Next: Cardinals' Fans Need to Have Patience With Leake

I’m not trying to be too critical of the team as we are just eight games into the season, but this is something that dates back to years before. Adams simply isn’t a major league hitter at this point. For more on this, I highly suggest you check out our former writer Dan Buffa’s piece on Adams.