By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today

After initially being declared out for the season following a quad strain injury suffered in late May which required surgery, first baseman Matt Adams has recently made promising strides towards a return in September.

After being cleared recently to swing a bat and take part in drills in the field, the 26-year-old slugger has now begun to mix in sprints in his rehab process.

“They showed me some video analysis of him running the other day–I was blown away at how good he was running, I think everybody was,” manager Mike Matheny told reporters, including Brian Stull of STL Baseball Weekly, prior to Friday’s game against the Marlins. “It looked normal and actually running pretty hard.”

In addition to his on-the-field running, Adams has also spent a considerable amount of time on a zero-gravity treadmill.

As for the plan to get him back on the field, the first baseman said he is continuing to check off the boxes.

“It’s going good,” agreed Adams. “Easing into the swings and not trying to over-do things. Just trying to keep crossing off the steps that we need to get back out there.”

General manager John Mozeliak told KMOX prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Marlins that Adams will be headed to the the team’s facilities in Florida for training and baseball activities in the near future.

Headed into play Sunday, Adams has missed 70 games due to the quad injury for the Cardinals, who currently (after play 8/15) hold a six game lead over the Pirates in the NL Central.

Read more: STL Baseball Weekly

[Related: Injury Updates: Mixed results for rehabbing redbirds]

 

Feature image used under Creative Commons by Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.