As we watched Matt Carpenter the past couple years — in what we surely thought were the last couple years — his graceful swing was reduced to a desperate whack.
A free agent this offseason, Carpenter worked and whittled down his swing as if he were one.
Yet this spring, he couldn’t even crack the Texas Rangers’ roster.
And so, fact that he’s even on a major league roster in 2022 is impressive and, admittedly, astounding.
The fact that he has hit 10 home runs in 64 at-bats for the New York Yankees?
Unbelievable.
Like, this was not believable.
Perhaps he’s playing on borrowed time or with house money. Or maybe this is a Joe Hardy-“Damn Yankees” situation in reverse. Or Carpenter, 36, somehow figured out how to reconfigure and rejuvenate his swing to defy age and odds and two-seam fastballs. But it’s one of the best stories in baseball this season. And here’s hoping that all of St. Louis — even those still irked by the money made from his last contract inked — can find it in their red heart to appreciate the implausible.
Matt Carpenter is good again.
“He goes from not being able to get called up with the Rangers to batting cleanup in the best lineup in baseball,” said Adam Wainwright, who someday will wear a red jacket on opening day, while hopefully standing next to Carpenter in his own red jacket. “(Earlier this year), he was going to give it one month. He told me he’s going give it one month and see if he could start swinging the bat well and get called up. ...
“With the Rangers, he started a little slow and then he started hitting the ball. We were following him; everybody in here was following him. We love Matt. You know, he’s always going to be a Cardinal to us. But when he was released, it was that kind of that period of — what’s up? What’s going to happen? Like — is he going to go home?
“And he got a couple of offers. But then the Yankees called. And that’s, you know, a call you have to answer.”
Carpenter is not just a New York Yankee. He’s a Bronx Bomber.
In his final two seasons with St. Louis, Carpenter had 347 at-bats. He hit seven homers.
This season with New York, he’s got the 10 bombs in 64 at-bats, while batting .344. His OPS is 1.307. He’s patiently taking walks and taking Shohei Ohtani deep. In his 26 games played (small sample size acknowledged) he’s on pace for 62 home runs. Speaking of which, Mark McGwire homered every 7.27 at-bat in 1998, per @pointsbetusa, while Carpenter is close with homers ever 7.5 at-bats.
Will Carpenter keep this up?
Now, that is surely unbelievable (right?). But even if or when his numbers slide, he sure seems to be a fit in pinstripes. Here’s thinking he’ll still be on the club by Aug. 5, when the Yankees play at Busch Stadium. The applause will mostly be to thank “Carp” for his tenure — an .816 OPS in 11 seasons — but also to congratulate him for his Bronx renaissance.
“I love that dude,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who was a coach during some of Carpenter’s time with the team. “Finishing well is always the goal. You want to go out on your own. To be able to do what he’s doing over there sure is special, because I know he left here with the thought of — man, I feel like I have more in the tank, I feel like I can put another year together. For him to be able to go out there and perform the way he’s performing right now, it’s awesome.”
And no, the Cardinals didn’t make a mistake by letting Carpenter go. He would’ve made $18.5 million this year. He hadn’t hit well since the salsa days of the second half of 2018.
But yes, you can wonder — if offseason coaches helped Carpenter rediscover his swing, why couldn’t the Cardinals coaches during the season? That being said, sometimes a guy just needs some new scenery. And, say, a short porch in right field.
Carpenter has been part of a lot of winning baseball, and now he’s bringing that to a winning clubhouse — desperately trying to win the big one. Consider that the Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009. And you thought since 2011 was a long time for a storied franchise. The Yankees entered Monday at 61-25 and 14 games ahead of the second-place Red Sox.
“It’s awesome — I’m so happy for him,” Cardinals infielder Tommy Edman said. “No matter what, when he was here, he was always working hard always and trying to get better.”
And that’s the thing. Say what you want about not earning his paycheck, but Carpenter yearned to succeed for St. Louis. No matter how mad a fan was, that fan couldn’t have been as mad as Carpenter himself.
So it’s pretty special that Carpenter’s career has made it to extra innings.
