The Matt Adams outfield experiment has been a failed one thus far.
To remedy this situation, the Cardinals have called upon a St. Louis legend and Cardinals Hall of Famer to help him out. That man is former National League MVP Willie McGee. Currently, McGee serves as a special assistant on the Cardinals staff, but now will head back to St. Louis with the team in order to tutor Adams in the outfield.
On Wednesday, Adams made his fourth start of the season in left field. Originally, putting Adams in the outfield was just a thought in people’s minds after the former first baseman slimmed down tremendously during the off-season. Eventually, however, the team decided to give it a legitimate shot. And as stated above, it hasn’t panned out. Adams has made four starts in left field, in comparison to Randal Grichuk‘s five.
Manager Mike Matheny has acknowledged the defensive struggles that still seem to linger on from last season’s debacle. Bringing in McGee to help Adams is just one of the ways he is striving to improve the defense.
“We know what his bat can do. He’s in a real good spot, in my opinion,” Matheny said on Wednesday. “We like where Adams is and he is going to have to just continue to improve so we can put him in the outfield and make that a viable option.”
McGee, meanwhile, was a well-known fielder and consistent hitter (albeit not for power), and was most famous for robbing Gorman Thomas of a home run in Game 3 of the 1982 World Series. He was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.
There is still time for the AOE (Adams outfield experiment) to work out, but the Cardinals cannot afford to spend all season seeing if it does.
