Matt Carpenter's New York rebirth is the product of an undeniable work ethic
He. Just. Won't. Go. Away.
Matt Carpenter has been making his adjustments his entire professional life.
Drafted back in 2009, Carpenter was nearly down and out before he rebooted the way he prepped for baseball games. He took his career more seriously, and became a full time Cardinal three years later.
He was the leadoff hitter who overworked the other team’s starter. Drawing a walk, collecting a hit, or giving the whole dugout a look at the arm’s tricks, Carpenter did his job very well. He smashed doubles, pulled like a mad man, and became the team’s secret weapon.
While he couldn’t hit for a high average, Carpenter maintained an insane OBP for seven seasons. A couple years in, he found his power stroke. After slugging just .375 in 2014, Carpenter boosted that to .505 for the next two seasons. The rise in home runs also led to a rise in strikeouts, although the walks increased.
But it was the newfound power stroke or a series of back injuries that led Carpenter astray after the recovered 2018 season. He acquired a new approach at the plate, and according to an article posted at The Athletic, ignored or didn’t take advantage of the analytics given to him by Jeff Albert and the Cardinals’ coaching staff.
Through this unfortunate combination, Carpenter’s swing and overall approach deteriorated at the plate in St. Louis-spoiling a two-year extension that wasn’t necessarily required upon signing, leading to the front office saying no thanks on the 2022 option year.
According to the New York Post, Carpenter used analytics, a new bat, and a different eye to help rebuild his swing with the New York Yankees. Shedding more than just facial hair (the mustache plays better on the East Coast), Carpenter just made yet another adjustment to stick around at the big league level.
Like any great carpenter, the former salsa-growing Midwest sensation reached deeper into his arsenal of toys and found his quick pull stroke again. It only took him a little more than a week in New York to make history, smoking six home runs in his first ten games.
They aren’t short side porch, Yankees home field gimme shots either. Carpenter’s home runs in 2022 are more majestic in stature and distance. Baseball Savant also likes Carpenter’s work, albeit in a short sample size, this season. The K rate is down and the walk rate is up, and he’s barreling 29.4% of his hit balls.
I don’t think he can maintain the barrel rate or the 58% pull rate, but they are helpful reminders that in the world of baseball, you just never know when someone is done. In Carpenter’s case, joining the association of advanced baseball thinkers led to rebirth. He’s always liked to pull, and found a lot of success doing it.
It was the forced appeal of going to the opposite field late in his career, without the analytical push, that nearly doomed Carpenter. An underrated follow on Cards Twitter, Richard McGill, had this to say about the former Cardinal’s initial ability and his near crash and burn adjustment attempt.
Ignoring your gift is poisonous. Carpenter relocated that pull ability, making it even sharper and completely erasing the last three seasons of futility. While it’s easy to ignore reason and throw this missed attempt at the Cardinals’ feet, it was the rock bottom landing and new setting that led to the latest enlivenment.
The Texas Rangers had first dibs and passed due to a lack of playing time for Carpenter, who was shredding their AAA competition. The Yankees had a need, and Carpenter filled it by doing the extra hard work in self-examination and swing engineering.
Just another adjustment from the 399th overall draft pick in 2009.
Dan, it's too bad he waited to make the adjustments after he left the Cardinals and he didn't make them while the Cardinals were paying him $18 million a year.