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No one understands the Matt Adams experiment - A Hunt and Peck

Literally no one.

By lil_scooter93
Chicago Cubs v St Louis Cardinals Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Matt Adams has been playing a lot of left field lately and it is pretty confounding, to be completely honest. While Adams is a valuable asset to the St. Louis Cardinals and his efforts to learn a position he has never played before are appreciated, however...

It is bad. And honestly, it is not fair to Matt Adams.

Matt Adams is a legitimate big leaguer. He plays an adequate first base and has provided value with his bat in limited starting roles and off the bench. That role is important. The left field experiment is not only removing him from that role he has excelled at, but putting him in a role that he never stood a chance at succeeding in. That is not only pointless, but also a terribly cruel thing to do to someone.

The Cardinals were never serious about this experiment. If they had been, it would have began years ago. The Cardinals were never serious about getting Matt Adams playing time. If they had been, they would have employed other means in which to do it. As Dave Cameron of Fangraphs pointed out, "if the Cardinals really thought he was going to turn into an offensive monster, they wouldn’t have moved Matt Carpenter to first base this year."

Matt Adams deserves better than some embarrassing, hamfisted scheme. And now, instead of just dismissing the idea as a well-intended, but failed experiment, the Cardinals are doubling down, bringing in Willie McGee as an instructor for Adams, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

"He hasn’t been a blocked punt out there," Matheny said when asked to reconcile the two goals [offense and defense]. "The conversation, the statement was we’ve got to balance what will be our best lineup with that — how do we put the best defense? We’re going to get what we get out of a guy who hasn’t played out there that much. I think we’ve seen opportunities to make an impact offensively."

The whole thing is getting to the point where the team is losing credibility and not just among fans and writers, but with their own players too.

Tommy Pham is spectacular. ¡Viva el Tommy Pham!

Cardinals bringing in McGee as outfield tutor for Adams | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

What’s the Point of the Matt Adams Outfield Experiment? | FanGraphs Baseball

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