Ouch

Deep breath. Okay. Ready to jump in.

Adams in left field.

I write about this again because unlike before, this is much more than an idea that is getting more serious attention. It is no longer an experiment. It is no longer an emergency-multiple-injuries-needed-before-it-is-considered thing. It has now become a regular occurrence, as for 3 of our 6 games, Matt Adams has started the game in left field.

He missed a ball infamously on Thursday, his first official start in left field. It had a 69% catch rate probability according to Statcast. It would have likely been caught had Grichuk or Martinez been playing, as more experience leads to better routes and jumps. On Saturday, after many thought (hoped, prayed, begged) the experiment was over, he was written in as starting left fielder again. On this day, he missed a catch with a 96% catch rate probability, leading to a triple for the hitter. Face palm indeed. On Sunday, he simply didn't look competent out there. His play in the outfield is slow and awkward. The weight loss made him faster around the bases and he made it from 1st to home in Saturday's game, which was awesome. However, it doesn't seem to translate to the outfield, most likely because of his discomfort there.

While many were frustrated Adams was even out there as I was, I also wondered how good it is to keep moving Grichuk to right field when he really needs to work in left field every day to constantly improve over there. He has said in multiple interviews how the communication with Dex has been crucial and that repeating the skills he's working on every day in LEFT are crucial to him being the best he can be out there. Shouldn't that be the goal of our manager? Consistency=good defense. Good defense=better pitching.

Not that there ever was any, but there is surely now no logical reason to have Adams starting any game in left field. I'm all for it Matheny wants to try him at 1B to spell Carp a few times. Matt Adams has historically been a fantastic pinch hitter with pop off the bench and now, he isn't hitting regularly while playing daily and when he did pinch hit, he struck out. To be clear, I don't blame him. He came into this season trying to save his career and Matheny is mismanaging all of it terribly. Many seemed to think the front office was trying to show him off at a new position for possible trade situations. The more he plays this way, the less the chances the phone will be ringing off the hook. 

Jose Martinez was invited to be on the 25 man roster as our 4th outfielder and has received zero starts in 6 games to the 3 Adams has received during a time where one outfielder is injured. Small sample size, but Jose has reached base via a walk or a double in each of his plate appearances, sparking a rally on Opening Day. His first strikeout on the season was today and he is batting .333. In a marginally larger sample size, Adams has 2 singles, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks. He is batting .200. With both taking walks, one striking out much less, both capable of extra base hits and power, I'm not sure why Adams is Matheny's only choice for our 4th OF. Jose is actually an outfielder who can play both LF and RF. Defensively, Martinez is quicker and more capable due to experience alone, but he is also more athletic at this time. That is not to take away from the huge strides Adams has made in this off season. I applaud his efforts. I would appreciate his efforts at first base far more than watching him gif his way to stardom by missing catches out there in left field. It's also not fair to him for Matheny to say publicly on the radio "he's adequate in left field" and "he needs to take batting practice seriously...watch how the balls carry to learn his routes." Neither of those are supportive or appropriate ways to teach. One does not learn the job in the majors in regular season games for the first time. If they wanted this, it should have happened months ago. It doesn't happen by watching BP because hitters don't hit bombs every other bat against real pitching. He has to learn all kinds of reads on all kinds of hits. Also, "adequate" is not a compliment. Again, be supportive or stop talking.

We won't know for 100% certainty that Jose or Grich catch every ball Adams misses until they play. With Matheny benching Jose for no logical reason, we may never know. Pham is tearing it up in Memphis and some want him back. I love Pham but I don't want him back right now, or maybe at all. Matheny wouldn't play him either and the spark would be snuffed out. Jose is getting the Pham treatment. It's difficult enough to watch that guy, with all his enthusiasm, energy and ability, be benched every single day Piscotty has had to sit. It's tiring to watch potential wasting away. I genuinely feel for players when this happens.

Sure, all of this gets alleviated a little when Piscotty returns. Or so we hope. On a team that is struggling for offense, with a bullpen that has blown leads and saves almost every game, Matheny has chosen to weaken our defense almost daily. It wouldn't be crazy in his line of reasoning to continue sitting Grichuk or Piscotty in favor of Adams in left field. That is a disservice to the team as a whole, but mostly to Adams. He has worked very hard this off season to be healthy enough to contribute to the team and his manager is working just as hard to make it impossible for him to succeed. Continuously being thrown out in left field exposing his defensive weaknesses while simultaneously batting him clean up, providing pressure at the plate as well, isn't helping Adams. Peralta isn't doing much of anything to earn starts, so I'm completely fine with Carp moving to 3B so Adams can play 1B. I will never be fine with him starting in left. It doesn't help anyone. It does actually do harm though. Will Matheny realize this? Likely not. At least not soon enough to prevent further damage. Think if Adams gets hurts out there. The first missed catch, he belly flopped on the ground--not pleasant. The second missed catch, he slammed into a wall--again, not a great feeling I'm sure.

Stop the madness. Please put Adams at 1B to spell Carp or deploy him as the very successful pinch hitter he is known for being. Give the guy a chance to shine. Or at the very least, give him the best chance to be successful. He's at least earned that much respect. He's earned the appropriate opportunities here. Adams has had a bit of a bumpy road in his career, and I hope he finds success. His current manager isn't helping him find it. Fingers crossed Adams finds a way despite the work of his manager.