Kerry Carpenter has flown under more radars for the production he’s put up than any other Major League player this year in my opinion. Carpenter was a 19th round draft pick out of Virginia Tech after a stop at St. Johns River CC in Florida. As of this writing, Carpenter is slashing .281/.342/.526 (.868 OPS) over 301 plate appearances. Lets take a closer look at Carpenter:
Stance: | Square, semi-crouch setup. Hanging leg lift trigger, quiet medium hand load, high slot-entry. “Hits into ground” and utilizes lower half especially well, quiet head throughout, aggressive intent in hacks. |
Path/Hands: | Lofty path that occasionally gets lengthy. A hint of adjustability present in stroke, solid-average bat speed, and plus bat strength. High slot-entry. |
Discipline/Approach: | Shows power to all-fields but approach is pull-oriented. There’s bat-to-ball ability in the profile but also geared towards power production. |
The production hasn’t been there for Carpenter against LHP, he’s slashing .233/.327/.372 this year against southpaws, but what I believe is more important when only dealing with a 49 PA sample size is how he looks in the box and how competitive his few AB’s have been. Carpenter stays in well against LHP’s and appears to track them better than his limited data would indicate. He consistently has aggressive, under-control hacks against them, and like most LH hitters has an elevated chase rate against same-side arms. I project that Carpenter will improve his production against LHP’s as he continues to accumulate more AB’s against them. Here are a couple of very good examples of Carpenter staying in there against a LHP and generating hard, elevated contact:
Carpenter showed flashes of promise in a brief run at the Major League level in 2022 slashing .252/.310/.485 over 31 games and 113 PA’s. Carpenter has answered the bell in 2023, plus-some. Being an average defender in the corner outfield spots, almost all his value is dependent on his offensive production and I’m confident we’ve yet to see the best from Carpenter and I’m excited to continue to watch him adapt and evolve at the Major League level in the coming years.