I bought a new house about a year ago. It was a fixer and needed tons of work. We hired a guy to do the big stuff while the wifey and I DIY’d/Mickey Mouse’d the rest. While we became proficient after many reps, yelling, and sweating, the difference in skill between us and the hired gun was Grand Canyon-esque. As it should be. Now, my wife’s dad worked in construction for decades, and he flew out to lend a hand. I took some video of his skill:
A true professional he is. And vastly underrated. As is Kerry Carpenter of the Detroit Tigers. If you need power, this Carpenter can help you build upon the foundation that you’ve manufactured up to date.
Carpenter is 26 years old, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, and bats from the left side. He was selected in the 19th round of the 2019 MLB draft by the Tigers.
In Rookie ball, he slashed .319/.408/.625 with an 11.5% walk rate, 9.4% strikeout rate, and .306 ISO in 191 plate appearances. As he advanced up levels, the walk rate ticked down to 6% while the strikeout rate spiked to over 20%. He did continue to hit for average, though, and the power remained. During the 2022 season, the ISO was .342 over 262 plate appearances in Double-A while it was .314 over 138 plate appearances in Triple-A. So the power is 2 legit 2 quit. Hammer time! This is why I get paid the big bucks.
Carpenter received 113 plate appearances with the big club in 2022 and the walk rate was 5.3%, the strikeout rate was 28.3%, and the ISO was .233.
So for this season, the slash is .289/.352/522 with a 7% walk rate, 23.7% strikeout rate, and .233 ISO. He has 20 home runs and three stolen bases. In only 355 plate appearances!
There are currently 75 players (as of the time of this writing, which is September 5) who have hit at least 20 home runs. Only 27 of those batters have fewer than 500 plate appearances. 13 have done it in fewer than 400 with Patrick Wisdom the only one at under 300 plate appearances. The average exit velocity of 90.6 mph is 74th-best in all of baseball.
Not all is sunshine and unicorns, though. The chase rate of 37.1% is 64th but the swinging strike rate is only 12.3% while the contact rate in the zone is a more-than-respectable 86.1%. Carpenter doesn’t get cheated at the plate and will get his hacks in, but he is not just flailing and ball goes boom when he connects.
The Tigers are one of the most inept offenses in baseball, as they are 29th in runs scored and OPS, so the team context and environment aren’t great. That said, he does bat fourth or fifth in the lineup and could provide a cheap source of power for those who need a little bop down the stretch.
