A few hours before the game, when the stadium is nearly empty, Matt Adams will run out to left field.
There he will work on his fielding with Nationals coaches Tim Bogar and Bobby Henley. The extra work is necessary: Adams played just 20 games in left field prior to this season.
“It’s getting a little bit better and better,” Adams said of his acumen in the outfield.
But it’s when he steps into the batter’s box that the 245-pound slugger is really having an impact.
Signed to be a backup at first base and left field, Adams has elbowed his way into the Nationals everyday lineup with his power hitting.
Through Sunday, he had played in 28 of 35 games and was hitting .296 with 21 hits in 71 at-bats. The left-handed hitter has three doubles, eight homers and 18 RBI and a slugging mark of .676.
He crushed a solo homer to right field Sunday against Phillies ace Jake Arrieta, who entered the game having never allowed a homer to any of the active Nationals in a total of 85 at-bats.
“Big City. Big fly,” was the call from Nationals radio announcer Charlie Slowes.
That gave Adams, nicknamed Big City, six homers in his last 10 games, with 14 RBI.
He also showed his versatility last week when he hit one of his homers to left field at Nationals Park.
“Everyone thinks I am just a pull hitter,” he said.
And most people think a 245-pound giant can’t play anywhere else but first base.
Not true with Adams, 29, who played catcher for much of his time in college at Division II Slippery Rock.
His college coach, Jeff Messer, feels Adams could hold his own if needed as an emergency catcher for the Nationals. His high school coach, Doug Sankey, remembers a big bat early on.
“We brought him up from the JV and he had a game-winning hit as a freshman,” recalls Sankey, the coach at Philipsburg-Osceola High in rural Pennsylvania.
Adams was acquired by the Nationals before the season as a free agent to effectively replace Adam Lind, who also played first and left field. Lind was a backup to Ryan Zimmerman at first base last year and also made 25 appearances in left field.
Lind hit .303 with 14 homers in just 267 at-bats last year for the Nationals and was eventually signed by the New York Yankees.
Adam Eaton began the season as the left fielder for the Nationals but went on the disabled list April 11 with a bone bruise on his left ankle. There is no word on when he may return.
Zimmerman, meanwhile, was hitting .194 with five homers in 31 games through Sunday. But he did not play Saturday or Sunday due to soreness after he dove for a grounder Friday.
That has created more playing time for Adams, who has made eight starts at first and eight in left going into the Nationals game on Monday night at San Diego against the Padres. And the Nationals won the first four games when Adams hit No. 3 in the lineup while Bryce Harper was the leadoff hitter.
“I am happy with any role they want me to do,” Adams said. “That is the way I have been from Day 1 up here. I want to go out there and give it my best.”
How hard is it to be a role player?
“Early on it was one at-bat here, one at-bat there,” Adams said of not playing much in early April. “If you don’t get the job done that may carry with me. I think the huge part is getting a grip on the mental” side of coming off the bench.
On Friday against the Phillies, Adams hit a home run in the second inning and then robbed Maikel Franco of a homer in the fourth as he caught the ball near the fence in left field in front of the Phillies bullpen.
That was good news for Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who got the win as he went five innings. So the extra work on his defense is paying off, even when teammates joked about Adams limited jumping ability in left field.
“It was just unreal. Not only is he hitting homers, he’s robbing homers,” Gonzalez said of Adams. “That guy’s doing it all.”
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