NEW YORK — Less than two months ago, Matt Carpenter was lounging on his couch back home in Texas, unsure if his MLB career was over.
The veteran had requested his release from the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, beginning to come to grips with an unceremonious conclusion to his 11-year career in the big leagues.
Doubt might’ve peaked through the curtains, but Carpenter never completely gave up hope, glancing periodically at his phone as he waited to see if a team would call and give him an opportunity. After all, he had worked tirelessly to keep his playing days alive, embarking on a cross-country journey to revamp his swing.
Fast forward to the present day and Carpenter is producing an improbable and historic run with the best team in baseball, showing 29 other clubs that they made a grave mistake, not hitting him up and giving him a shot.
Carpenter mashed two more home runs with the Yankees on Saturday night against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, driving in seven runs in a 14-1 victory. He brought the biggest crowd in the Bronx since August of 2019 to its feet over and over while soaking in his first curtain call in pinstripes.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words,” Carpenter said after the blowout win. “I said it the first day I was here, I’m just so grateful to be in the clubhouse, to be here with this group of guys. I come to the ballpark every day just thrilled to be a part of this and to be able to play like I’m playing and the way our team is playing on a nightly basis is a lot of fun.”
With 13 home runs, Carpenter is just the seventh Major Leaguer since 1900 to hit 13-plus homers through his first 30 games with a new team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He’s only the second player in franchise history to smack 13 long balls within his first 27 hits with the Yankees, batting .391/.481/1.014 (27-for-69) in his first 20 starts with New York (dating back to his Yankees debut on May 26).
“He’s become an explanation point,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I mean it’s really impressive what he’s doing and it’s just been from day one, at-bat one through his last at-bat tonight. It’s just been a lot of quality at-bats, just a guy that’s been great in the clubhouse, has fit in perfectly.”
Carpenter is keeping things simple at the plate, sticking to his revitalized approach while trying to win each pitch. His batting stance is calm and quiet but his swing is explosive and his plate discipline is dynamite. He’s proven over these last several weeks that he can hit any pitch in any spot out of the ballpark, using a compact and powerful swing to make his at-bats extremely tough for opposing pitchers to navigate.
“I really don’t know where to pitch him right now if I were on the other team,” Yankees starter Jameson Taillon explained with a grin. “He’s hitting breaking balls in the zone, he’s handling fastballs and he doesn’t chase a ton, so there’s just not a ton of room for error.”
Scroll to Continue
The Cardinals cut ties with the 36-year-old after he hit in the .100s in both 2020 and 2021. His journey from that low point to his new home has been recounted by many, including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein.
“I think it’s a testament to him and wanting to squeeze everything out of his career,” Boone explained. “Obviously, it’s a guy that’s had a really good career if he had gone home after last season. He’s done well in this game from a contractual standpoint, but obviously, there’s something within him that loves the game and felt like there was more to get out of it. Going through some struggles the last couple years forced him to ask some questions, work through some things and make some tweaks and he’s reaping those benefits.”
When Carpenter signed with New York in May, he didn’t necessarily factor into the playing time equation. Now, the Yankees are doing everything they can to get him in the starting lineup each day, even giving him a chance to play in the outfield (something he hadn’t done since 2014 before last month).
“I think the fans are liking him a little more than me. I’m getting a little jealous out there,” Aaron Judge joked after watching from center field as fans in the bleachers and down the right-field line roared for Carpenter when he reached the outfield grass between innings.
Carpenter’s journey is proof that nothing in this sport is guaranteed. A player with an eight-figure salary that’s earned MVP votes and trips to the All-Star Game can suddenly fall flat, declining in the blink of an eye. It’s also evidence that perseverance and an openness for change can resuscitate a player’s career, defying father time while taking an asset from his proverbial baseball death bed to pure dominance on the biggest stage.
The end may still be somewhere on the horizon for Carpenter, but he’s making the most of this historic revival, already building quite a legacy in pinstripes.
“When I was sitting on that couch, I thought, ‘This could be it,’” Carpenter said. “I didn’t know when I was going to get a chance, if I was going to get a chance, to play again. That’s part of why it’s been so much fun to be here, because it’s just like a new lease on life.”
MORE:
Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
