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In Sunday's win over the visiting Phillies, rookie first baseman Matt Adams hit his first career home run. The homer came on Adams's one-week anniversary as a big leaguer, a stint that began with a single in the first plate appearance of his first game. The young slugger has not so much replaced the injured Lance Berkman's production as played first base with an offensive line most Adamsian.
While winning the Texas League player of the year award in 2011, Adams posted a line of .300/.357/.566 with 32 homers. Statcorner has his .403 wOBA equaling a 112 wOBA+. For comparison, Josh Hamilton's .376 wOBA in 2011 for the Rangers amounted to a 112 wOBA+.
During his 37 games with Memphis in the Pacific Coast League, Adams picked up where he left off. Again in hitter-friendly habitat, Adams mashed. His line at the date of his callup was .340/.375/.603, which was good for a .412 wOBA that amounts to a 122 wOBA+ in the PCL. His nine dingers in 152 PAs have him still tied for fifth in the league (eight behind Cubs top prospect Anthony Rizzo, who has an astounding 17 round-trippers).
In his first eight games with St. Louis, Adams has tallied 31 PAs. His line after a week: .345/.387/.586. Adams's wOBA of .415 works out to a 133 wOBA+ according to Statcorner. Adams has rapped out four doubles; combined with his homer, his Isolated Power (ISO) of .241 is a bit below his .262 ISO with Memphis and .266 ISO with Springfield.
As a group, St. Louis Cardinals first basemen have collectively posted a line of .322/.388/.594 with a wOBA of .413. The rookie Adams has picked up where his now-injured teammates left off, continuing the stellar production at the position. It's very early and the free-swinging Adams likely will run into some rough patches as he fills in for Berkman & Co., but so far Matt Adams has been who we thought he was--a man with the physique of a grizzly bear who smashes baseball atoms while drawing few walks.