With the heroics Tuesday night from St. Louis Cardinals Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday and Jon Jay, the contributions of Matt Adams were perhaps not fully appreciated.
Not only is the big first baseman continuing to impress defensively, the club’s cleanup hitter went 2-for-4 with a run scored in St. Louis’ 3-0 win over the New York Mets. Now batting .346 on the season, Adams’ mark is first among Cardinals, just ahead of Yadier Molina at .342.
Adams has been productive in 2014, with Tuesday being his 10th multi-hit game in the team’s first 21 contests. That 10-count is the best in the National League currently.
In spring training, Adams’ contributions were more in the expected areas of power and production, as the left-handed hitter led the club in home runs with four and RBI at 11 (tied). The 25-year-old is not a one-trick pony, however, as he batted .318 over four seasons in the minor leagues.
Though Adams is not on a historic pace, I asked researcher Tom Orf to pull other Cardinals with double-digit multi-hit outings over the team’s first 21 games. Adams joins some pretty good names on this list, covering the last 60 seasons. Not surprisingly, the club’s all-time leader, with 14 such outings, is Stan Musial, who did it in 1958.
10 or more multi-hit performances in first 21 games of season, St. Louis Cardinals, since 1954
2014 | Matt Adams | 10 | ||||
2011 | Colby Rasmus | 10 | ||||
2006 | David Eckstein | 10 | ||||
2003 | Edgar Renteria | 12 | ||||
1999 | Joe McEwing | 10 | ||||
1995 | Bernard Gilkey | 11 | ||||
1989 | Vince Coleman | 11 | ||||
1974 | Ken Reitz | 11 | Reggie Smith | 10 | Lou Brock | 10 |
1970 | Jose Cardenal | 10 | ||||
1968 | Curt Flood | 10 | ||||
1967 | Lou Brock | 10 | ||||
1963 | Dick Groat | 11 | ||||
1958 | Stan Musial | 14 | ||||
1957 | Stan Musial | 11 | Alvin Dark | 10 |
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