Healthy and hungry
PITTSBURGH — Matt Adams didn’t expect to play Sunday.
The former Slippery Rock University slugger and current St. Louis Cardinal first baseman wasn’t in the starting lineup against Pirate left-hander Francisco Liriano.
But he was in the game by the third inning.
Starting left fielder Tommy Pham had to leave the contest due to tightness in his left oblique. Adams can identify with such things.
“I just want to stay healthy this year,” Adams said before Sunday’s game. “I’ve had issues in the past, but I feel great right now. I’ve felt good all spring.”
Adams will turn 28 in August and has endured stints on the disabled list in each of the past three seasons with St. Louis. A right oblique strain put him on the 15-day DL in 2013. Right calf tightness put him on the shelf for 15 days in 2014.
But nothing was worse than last year.
A quadricep tear wound up needing surgery May 29 of last season and Adams wound up missing 91 games. And that was after he hit .304 in the month of April.
“That was the first injury I ever had in baseball that took me out for a long time,” Adams said. “It was rough. I just wasn’t used to sitting around.
“I got through it. I can’t say it was easy.”
Adams was activated by the Cardinals on Sept. 10. He wound up hitting .240 in 175 at bats on the season, including five home runs. He started seven games at first base down the stretch, but did not play in the postseason.
But he stayed around the team.
“My teammates wanted me in the dugout. They wanted me around, said I was still a part of it,” Adams said. “That’s a good feeling, receiving that kind of respect.”
Adams did lead the Cardinals in hitting in 2014, batting .288 and delivering 13 game-winning RBI. He even shared the team lead with five triples, becoming the first St. Louis first baseman to hit that many in a season since Keith Hernandez in 1982.
Adams’ parents, his grandmother and a few friends from the Slippery Rock area came to Sunday’s game. Adams graduated from Philipsburg-Osceola High School.
“My pass list didn’t have too many names on it this time,” he said, comparing it to past visits to PNC Park.
He got four at-bats in the opener and went hitless. Adams’ final at-bat was in the ninth inning, representing the tying run against Pirate closer Mark Melancon.
Falling behind in the count 0-2, he worked it back to 3-2 before flying out to center field to end the game.
Adams’ next hit will be the 300th of his big league career. It will have to wait another day.
“The (National League) Central is tough, as good as any in baseball,” he said. “The team that plays the most consistent baseball will be the team that wins it. But everyone’s going to have highs and lows.”
