PITTSBURGH — No one can question Matt Adams about time management.

He doesn't waste it.

Adams, 24, one of the best hitters in Slippery Rock University baseball history, is the first SRU player to ever reach the major leagues. Despite being a 23rd-round draft choice by St. Louis in 2009, he never spent more than a season with any of the Cardinals' minor league clubs.

“Matt can just flat out hit,” SRU coach Jeff Messer said. “He's done it at any level he's ever played.

“We've had roughly 30 guys sign pro baseball contracts. A couple of them got close, but never got to the big leagues. Matt's made the climb look easy.”

Adams owns SRU career records for highest batting average (.453) and slugging percentage (.754). The year he was drafted, he hit .495 with 14 homers and 64 RBIs for The Rock and was named PSAC West Player of the Year.

Since then, he's hit .365 at Johnson City in rookie ball, .346 at Class A Batavia, .310 with 22 homers and a league-leading 88 RBIs at Class A Quad Cities, .300 with 32 homers and a league-leading 101 RBIs at Class AA Springfield and .329 with a team-leading 18 homers in 67 games with Class AAA Memphis — all in the span of four years.

His numbers at Memphis prompted a call from the Cardinals May 20 of last year. Lance Berkman went on the disabled list, Adams collected two hits in his MLB debut and has been rolling ever since.

Season-ending elbow surgery in August only served as a detour.

“Slippery Rock is where my baseball career took off,” Adams said. “I'll never forget my time there. I'm always going to follow the coaches and the program.”

During a day off in spring training last month, Adams attended SRU's game against Dartmouth in Florida and spent some time with this year's Rock team.

He hit .244 with two homers in 27 games with the Cardinals last season. Surgery Aug. 13 to remove bone chips from his right elbow shut him down early last season.

“I couldn't play any fall ball ... just rest up and get myself ready for the spring,” Adams said. “I was hoping to make the team, but, of course, a player has no control over that.

“All I wanted to do was show up, do the best I could in spring training games and what happens, happens. All I was concerned with was my play on the field. There's good players all over this team. No one can predict the future.”

And no one could have predicted what Adams' 2013 season has been like thus far.

He made the Cardinals' 25-man roster after hitting .288 with a team-leading three homers and 17 RBIs in spring training.

Despite appearing in only seven of the Redbirds' first 17 regular season games, Adams sports a .524 batting average — 11 hits in 21 at-bats — including three home runs, which is tied for the team lead with Carlos Beltran despite 31 fewer plate appearances.

Adams' slugging percentage is 1.048. Four-time All-Star Yadier Molina has the team's next highest slugging mark at .483.

“I'm seeing the ball well right now,” Adams said. “A lot of this is preparation. I don't look at pinch-hitting as a special art. I look at it as another at-bat.”

Adams works on his at-bats each night in batting practice. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound left-handed hitter drilled pitches over the left-center field wall in BP Tuesday evening at PNC Park.

“Matt just gets it,” Cardinals hitting coach John Mabry said. “He's improved so much since he was here last year because he's listened to what coaches have told him and he's applied it.

“Baseball is all about adjustments. A hitter has to adjust all of the time. So far, he's doing it.”

Adams has reached the big leagues quicker than numerous higher-round draft picks by St. Louis.

“Some of their top five picks in recent years aren't even there anymore,” Messer said. “I could see how far Matt's come from the walk he drew in a pinch-hitting appearance Monday night.

“The pitcher (Bryan Morris) threw him some tough stuff and he laid off. Last year, he would have offered at those pitches and gotten himself in trouble.

“He's proving he definitely belongs there.”

For the first time in his baseball life, Adams is not an every-day player. The change doesn't seem to affect him.

It has affected other players coming up to the big leagues.

“It's respect playing time, not expect playing time,” Mabry said. “Most young players are in situations like Matt's when they first come up. They need to take advantage of their opportunities when they come.

“Matt has taken full advantage. A lot of guys don't make that adjustment right away. He's a fast learner.”

Adams admits he's learned to show more patience at the plate — out of necessity.

“When I come off the bench in a game, it's usually facing the other team's set-up guy or closer, a top-flight pitcher,” he said. “You may only get one pitch to hit. I have to be selective and work the count in order to square that ball up.”

Adams knows he's not going to hit .500 this season. He doesn't anticipate becoming an every-day player this year, either.

He does plan to be ready when called upon.

“It'd be easy for me to look around this locker room at a (Carlos) Beltran, (Matt) Holliday or Molina and feel in awe,” Adams admitted. “I've watched these guys play for a long time. But they're my teammates now.

“If I'm going to stay here, I have to keep working at it. Most of the teams we're playing haven't seen me yet, but there is video out on everybody. They'll adjust to me and I have to be ready,” Adams added. “I study every pitcher I might be stepping in against.

“You have to earn your keep every day you're up here.”

Following is the 2013 game-by-game production of SRU standout Matt Adams with the St. Louis Cardinals:Date Opp AB R H 2B HR RBIApril 17 at PIT 3 0 0 0 0 0April 15 at PIT 0 0 0 0 0 0April 14 MIL 4 1 2 0 1 1April 10 CIN 3 1 2 1 1 3April 9 CIN 1 1 1 0 1 2April 7 at SFO 4 1 3 1 0 2April 3 at ARI 6 1 3 0 0 0Totals 21 5 11 2 3 8