page_title: Matt Adams
section_title: 2012
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Adams / Baseball career / St. Louis Cardinals / 2012
caption_attribution_description: Matt Adams
context_page_description: Matthew James Adams is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Nicknamed Big City for his imposing size and ability to regularly hit long home runs, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Adams in the 23rd round of the 2009 MLB draft from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
  Playing in the Texas League in 2011, Adams was recognized as that league's Most Valuable Player and the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year with a .300 batting average, 32 home runs and 101 runs batted in. He made his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2012. In his rookie season in 2013, Adams hit 17 home runs in 296 at-bats. Adams has also played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals, and won the 2019 World Series with the Nationals.
context_section_description: Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America considered him the ninth best prospect in the Cardinals organization. On May 20, 2012, the Cardinals called Adams up after placing Lance Berkman on the disabled list (DL). He went 2-for-4 in his major league debut. He hit his first major league home run six days later. Adams played in 27 games with the Cardinals where he hit .244 with 13 RBI and two home runs before returning to Memphis.
  Splitting time between the Memphis Redbirds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and the Cardinals, he continued to show consistent power and batting average in the minor leagues. At Memphis, Adams hit 18 home runs with 50 RBI as he batted .329 with a .624 slugging percentage. However, an elbow injury brought an early end to his 2012 season. The injury, which had been a nagging problem much of summer, finally had to be treated surgically in mid-August to remove a bone spur.
caption: Adams batting against the Mets
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