Cardinals' Matt Adams: Struggling to gain playing time

Adams, who's slashing .154/.241/.154 over 29 plate appearances this season, is having an increasingly difficult time cracking the lineup, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "Whoever is really hot is going to get an opportunity," said manager Mike Matheny. "We've got to get Adams into that mix where he gets opportunities but he's still going to be a guy who's going to be coming off the bench every single day -- or, at least, a threat of coming in and changing the game with one at-bat."

Analysis:

The career .268 hitter has been unable to get into anything resembling a groove at the plate this season, and his sporadic playing time likely hasn't helped. Adams' 366 games at first base since the 2012 season represent a team high, but that is Matt Carpenter's domain on the majority of days now. Meanwhile, the experiment of using Adams in left field as a means of working him into the lineup didn't exactly go awry, but Matheny has not deployed the veteran there again after using him in that role in four of the first nine games of the season. Adams also has an extended track record as an excellent pinch hitter, but is just 1-for-6 in that role this season and has ceded some pinch-hit work to Greg Garcia and Jose Martinez. Despite the recent lack of playing time, Matheny continues expressing confidence in one of the team's more dependable players.