Matt Adams

Matthew James Adams (born August 31, 1988 ) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League.

He set club records in home runs and RBI, including eclipsing the mark of 29 HR Colby Rasmus set in 2007.

After the season, Adams played in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), and he was selected to represent the Cardinals in the AFL Rising Stars Game.

Nicknamed "Big City" for his imposing size and ability to regularly hit long home runs, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Adams in the 23rd round of the 2009 MLB draft from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, and Colorado Rockies.

In 2009, he was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Division II National Player of the Year.

The St. Louis Cardinals drafted Matt Adams in the 23rd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft.

At each level he played in the minor leagues, Adams displayed prodigious hitting ability.

His first full-season assignment came in 2010 with the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Single–A Midwest League.

In 121 games, he batted .310 with 71 runs scored, 44 doubles, 22 home runs (HR), and 88 runs batted in (RBI).

His .541 slugging percentage (SLG) led all Cardinals minor leaguers.

Playing in the Texas League in 2011, Adams was recognized as that league's Most Valuable Player and the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year with a .300 batting average, 32 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

In 2011, Adams was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year and the Texas League Most Valuable Player (MVP) after hitting .300, a .357 on-base percentage (OBP) and .566 SLG with 32 HR and 101 RBI in 115 games.

He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012.

Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America considered him the ninth best prospect in the Cardinals organization.

On May 20, 2012, the Cardinals called Adams up after placing Lance Berkman on the disabled list (DL).

He went 2-for-4 in his major league debut.

He hit his first major league home run six days later.

Adams played in 27 games with the Cardinals where he hit .244 with 13 RBI and two home runs before returning to Memphis.

Splitting time between the Memphis Redbirds of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League and the Cardinals, he continued to show consistent power and batting average in the minor leagues.

At Memphis, Adams hit 18 home runs with 50 RBI as he batted .329 with a .624 slugging percentage.

However, an elbow injury brought an early end to his 2012 season.

The injury, which had been a nagging problem much of summer, finally had to be treated surgically in mid-August to remove a bone spur.

In his rookie season in 2013, Adams hit 17 home runs in 296 at-bats.

Adams led the Cardinals in 2013 spring training with 17 RBI.

It was at that point that Adams earned his nickname, "Big City."

According to former teammate David Freese, several players had been searching for a nickname for the 6 ft 3 inch 230-pounder, when one day someone shouted out "Big City".

Said Freese: "Well he's a Big Boy that can rake [the ball]. I guess it hit because the guy can flat-out hit."

Adams started off the regular season on the St. Louis Cardinals roster as a bench player, backing up first baseman Allen Craig.

He caught the attention of the fans and media early on when in his first ten plate appearances he hit three home runs, two doubles, three singles, and a walk.

For a significant part of April, his batting average hovered between .640 and .700.

With a right oblique strain, the Cardinals placed Adams on the 15-day disabled list on April 26, retroactive to April 22.

As the season progressed, teams began to notice his pull-hitting tendencies and often employed an extreme infield shift on him that left one or no fielders on the left side of the second base bag.

He also had difficulty hitting off-speed pitches from left-handed pitchers.

Because he often grounded out to the right side of the bag, his batting average began to precipitously decline.

In June, he batted just .179 and .205 in August.

At the conclusion of his rookie season, Adams finished with a .284 batting average and .503 SLG.

Adams has also played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, the Colorado Rockies and the Washington Nationals, and won the 2019 World Series with the Nationals.

Adams grew up in Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

After graduating from Philipsburg-Osceola High School he attended Slippery Rock University where he holds the career records of batting average (.473) and slugging percentage (.754).