Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter proves himself as 'a solution' in long-term plan

Kerry Carpenter is the real deal.

Carpenter, a former 19th round draft pick, experienced a breakthrough 2022 season with 36 home runs in 129 games with Double-A Erie, Triple-A Toledo and the Detroit Tigers. He slammed six of those homers in 31 games in the big leagues.

The sudden success — after hitting just 15 homers in a full 2021 season with Double-A Erie — meant he needed to repeat his power-hitting production with the Tigers in the 2023 season. And, indeed, Carpenter answered the questions about his future, including his defense as a corner outfielder, while settling into his role in the middle of the batting order with Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson.

"I knew what I did last year was pretty good," Carpenter said, "but it was limited, and I wasn't the guy (opposing teams) keyed in on. Being able to come up here this year and prove that I can hit, it's been special. And it's not over. It's just getting started. I have a long way to go."

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Carpenter, who turned 26 in early September, hit .278 with 20 home runs, 32 walks and 115 strikeouts in 118 games in 2023, posting an .811 OPS. A couple of years ago, he learned his swing mechanics — built on the foundation of launch quickness — from Aaron Judge's personal hitting coach.

This year, Carpenter said he came into spring training with "a chip on my shoulder" and "something to prove" because he hadn't secured a spot on the Opening Day roster.

He accomplished that in spring training, and so much more during the regular season.

"It's been a blessing," said Carpenter, who went from a Dick's Sporting Goods employee in October 2020 to an MLB Network special guest in September 2023. "That's the only way I can describe it. I thank God for the opportunity. The ups and the downs, I learned from both."

The left-handed hitter improved his walk rate to 7% (up from 5.3% in 2022) and his strikeout rate to 25.1% (down from 28.3% in 2022). He blasted six homers to left field, one homer to center and 13 homers to right.

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In last year's offseason, Carpenter heard from the Tigers' new hitting coaches — Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard and James Rowson — that he should expect more secondary pitches in his second season with the Tigers. He continued to rake against fastballs and successfully adjusted to breaking balls and offspeed pitches.

"That was a huge thing coming into this year," Carpenter said. "I knew, at some point, I was going to get challenged with something other than heaters."

Carpenter, who missed more than a month with a right shoulder sprain, recognized a turning point when he returned from the injured list for a three-game series, June 9-11, against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Comerica Park.

Before the shoulder injury, Carpenter — labeled as a fastball hitter on scouting reports — had a .217 batting average with four home runs in his first 20 games. Pitchers were avoiding the strike zone with their fastballs and throwing more secondary pitches, both in an effort to limit damage.

Something clicked against Arizona.

"They really didn't throw me any heaters in the zone, and I had a good amount of hits that weekend," Carpenter said. "Zac Gallen's curveball is one of the best in the league, and I got a couple of hits off it. If I can do it against that guy, I can do it against everybody."

He had eight hits, one walk and two strikeouts in 13 plate appearances over the three-game series. Five of the hits, including two of three in the series finale against Gallen, came against non-fastballs.

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Beginning June 9, Carpenter hit .289 with 16 home runs in his final 98 games. His .824 OPS during that stretch ranked 40th among the 98 players with at least 350 plate appearances.

He slugged changeups at the highest clips of his career in June, July and August, also handling breaking balls in August. That month, Carpenter hit .347 with nine home runs and a 1.059 OPS in 28 games.

Hitting non-fastballs forced pitchers to throw him more fastballs again.

"It builds confidence," Carpenter said. "I did it last year in the minor leagues, but this is a whole different league. These guys are the best in the world. When you work on something, seeing it transfer is pretty special because other teams know you better than you know yourself."

Another confidence boost occurred when Carpenter, a left-handed hitter, took over as an everyday player in late July. Carpenter began the season sitting against left-handed pitchers, and if a lefty came out of the bullpen to replace a righty, a right-handed pinch-hitter would replace Carpenter.

He earned his way out of the platoon role.

"I know I can hit lefties," said Carpenter, who hit .235 with two homers in 78 plate appearances against lefties. "If I'm locked in, I do it. Whether I'm locked in or not determines that, not whether the guys are righties or lefties."

The emergence of Carpenter, as explained by president of baseball operations Scott Harris, offers a glimpse into how the Tigers will approach the upcoming offseason. Essentially, the Tigers won't sign free agents or trade for players that block up-and-coming prospects Jace Jung, Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy.

"There were very few people thinking Kerry Carpenter was going to be a solution for us," Harris said. "He is a solution for us, which is a good reminder that we have to be patient with young players, but we also have to give them opportunities to come up here and demonstrate that they can be solutions at positions moving forward."

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The Tigers will also keep their designated hitter spot wide open to give at-bats to several players. Carpenter will be one of the players in the mix, but manager A.J. Hinch doesn't want a DH-only player on his roster.

"We all knew Miguel (Cabrera) was retiring," Hinch said, "and we all know the DH spot was finally going to be relieved of a singular player, and now, maybe we can utilize that a little differently. It's still important for Carp to play in the outfield and get better as an outfielder."

Luckily for the Tigers, Carpenter took the next step in his development on defense under the instruction of bench coach George Lombard. He showed above-average arm strength and took better routes despite poor range.

His defense remains below average, but it's no longer a liability.

The latest development of the No. 562 overall draft pick in 2019 — in the outfield, against left-handed pitchers and against non-fastballs — has the Tigers prepared to write Carpenter's name on the lineup card for as many games as possible, both next season and in the years to come. He has the potential for multiple 30-home run seasons.

"I'm going to continue perfecting the swing that I have," Carpenter said of his offseason plans. "I'll look back on what worked and what didn't work. I'll continue to look into my weaknesses, like how people got me out, and get better in the field. And then, I'll looking at my strengths. It's going to be an offseason full of work."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter slugged himself into 'a solution'