Position Battle: First Base

Heading into the 2016 season, there appears to be a position battle going on. Most people would tell you that Brandon Moss will, without a doubt start at First Base in 2016 for the Cardinals. However, I think Matt Adams still has a chance to prove how good he is. Some Cardinal fans, including myself, have given up on Adams and wanted him traded, but, we have to realize that we haven’t even seen him play that much, and when he is healthy he isn’t that bad.

Lets dig a little deeper into the statistics of this years, First Base, Position Battle.

Matt Adams vs. Brandon Moss

Career vs. LHP (winner)

AVG- .197 vs. .246 Moss

OBP- .230 vs. .322 Moss

SLG- .317 vs. .399 Moss

OPS- .547 vs. .721 Moss

K%- 30.9% vs. 28.1% Moss

BB%- 3.9% vs. 9.3% Moss

BB/K- 0.13 vs. 0.33 Moss

Obviously, Moss has more experience in the MLB, but throughout both of they’re careers, Brandon Moss hits better than Adams vs. LHP. More than likely, how they hit against LHP will determine who gets the starting role the majority of the time, but below is Adams/Moss vs. RHP.

Career vs. RHP (winner)

AVG- .296 vs. .243 Adams

OBP- .337 vs. .322 Adams

SLG- .485 vs. .463 Adams

OPS- .822 vs. .785 Adams

K%- 20.2% vs. 25.8% Adams

BB%- 5.9% vs. 9.5% Moss

BB/K- 0.29 vs. 0.37 Moss

From above, it appears that Adams matches up better vs. RHP than Moss. It will be interesting to see what Matheny does come the first few games of the season at First Base.

I think that Moss will get the majority of the playing time, because he has a lot to prove to the Cardinals Franchise. They re-signed him, just so he could come back and prove what he can really do.

Another player who could play a little bit at First for the Cardinals is, Stephen Piscotty. Piscotty will likely play most of the season in RF, but you can guarantee a few games at First. Below is Stephen’s number vs. RHP and vs. LHP.

Stephen Piscotty

Career vs. LHP (39 G/ 59 AB)

AVG- .322

OBP- .379

SLG- .508

OPS- .887

K%- 22.7%

BB%- 9.1%

BB/K- 0.40

In just a few games vs. LHP, Piscotty hits pretty good against them. I would say Piscotty is a very good option to play First for the Cardinals in 2016.

Career vs. RHP (59 G/174 AB)

AVG- .299

OBP- .353

SLG- .489

OPS- .841

K%- 21.6%

BB%- 7.4%

BB/K- 0.34

All Statistics are from Fan Graphs.

Who do you think should be the Cardinals First Baseman in 2016? Click here to answer the poll.

Thanks for reading.

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