Guess who is leading the Cardinals in hitting?

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

Follow me on Twitter.
Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook.