DETROIT — One of the hottest hitters in the major leagues still has a LinkedIn page, one that touts his experience working at Dick’s Sporting Goods during the fall of 2020. Beyond Kerry Carpenter’s days as a team sports associate, his work experience includes front-end service at a Publix supermarket, where his many work responsibilities included “bagging, helping people to their cars, finding products for people and greeting everyone with kindness and respect.”
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Dating to his high school days in Florida, Carpenter also spent time as a math tutor and power-washed buildings.
Today his job description is a bit different. As his LinkedIn states, he is a player with the Detroit Tigers organization. And perhaps the LinkedIn is no longer needed. Because if Carpenter continues to play anything like this, he will not be returning to his jobs of old anytime soon.
Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, here was Carpenter again, up in a big spot, in a 3-1 count, waiting on his pitch. He loaded up on his back leg and uncoiled like he has so many times over the past two years. The young outfielder who works with the same hitting instructor as Aaron Judge unleashed his rubber-band swing and sent a ball flying to right field at Comerica Park, cutting through a headwind and finally sailing over the wall.
This blast, Carpenter’s 20th of the year and ninth in August, was also his first career grand slam. It tied the score at 4-4 and served as one more reminder that Carpenter’s hot bat is not going anywhere.
“He’s hitting in the middle of the order for so many reasons, but his impact is the main one,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
Kerry Carpenter ties the game with his first career GRAND SLAM and 20th home run! 💥#RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/olzkkVOQkf
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) August 23, 2023
This time last year, Carpenter was a new call-up who had raked in the minors but still had so much to prove. He was a 19th-round draft pick with a heartwarming backstory who seemingly came from nowhere and just kept hitting bombs.
But man, there were still so many questions. Could he hit to the opposite field? Could he hit left-handers? Would his defense be too much of a liability?
Today, Carpenter looks less like a one-dimensional rookie and more like a big part of the Tigers’ future.
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“His development this year has been impressive,” Hinch said this past weekend. “It started with him and his work and how he’s received messages and challenges from the coaches.”
Carpenter entered Wednesday with a .279 average, 25 home runs and a 138 OPS+ in only 384 career major-league at-bats.
Early in the season, the Tigers used him sparingly against left-handed pitching. But as Carpenter continued to thrive against righties, he kept earning more and more opportunities. Now he is in the lineup every day. He has a .340 on-base percentage against lefties, though only two of his homers have come against southpaws.
Once viewed as a dead pull hitter, Carpenter popped two opposite-field home runs over Fenway Park’s Green Monster earlier this month.
“Kerry Bonds,” teammate Spencer Torkelson called him in the Aug. 12 postgame interview with Bally Sports. “It’s really fun to see him go about his business. He’s the man, and I’m always rooting for him.”
And though Carpenter’s defense is still a weak point, he has started taking better routes and working to become a more proficient outfielder.
That was the biggest message Carpenter received from Hinch and the Tigers coaching staff in recent days. You can be adequate in the field and play in the major leagues. But to be a truly great player, you have to be great on defense, too.
Carpenter is a long way from any such designation in the outfield, but he has played well enough for Hinch to write him in the lineup and let his bat shine. He is worth negative-3 defensive runs saved in right field this year and plus-1 in left field.
“(Defense) was the next challenge for him,” Hinch said. “My hope is that we don’t have an everyday DH all the time. Being able to keep guys in the lineup and move them around is important. That only happens if guys get better on defense and we’re not mortgaging runs every time the ball is hit in their area.”
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Last year, Carpenter was one of the best under-the-radar stories in baseball. This season, he has grown as an all-around player and has quietly been one of the best young hitters in the league. Only Pete Alonso has matched Carpenter’s nine home runs this month. Carpenter, too, is hitting .368 in August and could challenge Julio Rodríguez for the American League’s player of the month award.
When Carpenter’s ball cleared the fence Wednesday, it was like a shockwave went through the Tigers’ dugout, lifting the mood on a cloudy Detroit day.
By this point, Carpenter’s towering homers should stop coming as a surprise.
His job security keeps increasing every time a ball leaves the yard.
“A homer is a possibility anytime he swings,” Hinch said. “Even when he does it, you kind of still get surprised. You’re still, like, wowed by it. Credit to him.”
(Top photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
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