Washington Nationals: Matt Adams Will Have Big Role in 2019

The Washington Nationals made an underrated move by bringing back Matt Adams. The veteran will play a huge role in the team’s 2019 success.

In the first half of the 2018 season, Matt Adams was one of the Washington Nationals most productive hitters.

Filling in for an injured Ryan Zimmerman Adams excelled playing first base and occasional leftfield hitting 18 home runs and driving in 48 in 94 games with the Nats.

Adams was eventually traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in August, but his love for Washington never wavered. This eventually led the Nationals being able to sign him back on a one-year deal this offseason, a move that was one of the best they made all winter.

The 30-year-old left-hander will play a huge role in the Nationals 2019 success, and if they want to bounce back and make it to the postseason, Adams will have to be a big part of the team’s offense.

As sad as it is to see, it seems extremely unlikely that Ryan Zimmerman will be able to make it through a full season without battling some sort of injury at this stage of his career. If Zimmerman does go down, it will be up to Adams to pick up the slack in the lineup.

Even if Zimmerman is healthy, Nationals manager Davey Martinez will figure to give him a decent amount of days off to keep him fresh, and Adams will be the guy to get the at-bats when Zimmerman has a day off.

Adams also will provide a huge left-hander power bat off the bench that can be extremely useful in late game situations. The seven-year veteran is one of, if not the best, power hitters off the bench in Major League Baseball.

Due to the fact that he will be primarily a bench player, Adams will not get much publicity, but he is, in fact, one of the most important Washington Nationals if the team wants to succeed in 2019.