Kerry Carpenter

Tigers Recall Jace Jung

By Anthony Franco | April 21, 2025 at 5:03pm CDT

Jace Jung is back in the big leagues, as the Tigers recalled the third base prospect from Triple-A Toledo. Detroit optioned Ryan Kreidler in a corresponding move.

It’s the second major league call for the 24-year-old Jung. Detroit selected his contract last August. The 2022 first-round pick got regular run at third base down the stretch. He reached base at an excellent .362 clip over his first 94 big league plate appearances. Jung struck out 29 times without hitting a home run, though. The Tigers made a run at Alex Bregman over the offseason, confirming they weren’t firmly committed to Jung as their starting third baseman going into this year.

Once Bregman signed with Boston, Jung projected as the starting third baseman entering camp. He didn’t perform during Spring Training, hitting .121 with one longball in 14 games. The Tigers optioned him midway through camp. With Matt Vierling on the injured list, they went with a nearly even playing time split between Andy Ibáñez, Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry. They’ve used McKinstry in right field over the past few days.

Báez seems likely to join him in the outfield. He’s starting in center field tonight against Padres righty Randy Vásquez. Chris McCosky of The Detroit News relays that Báez is likely to play regularly in center for the near future. That’d push Riley Greene back to left field while leaving third base to a Jung/Ibáñez platoon. Kreidler had started 14 games in center field this season, but he’s out to an untenable .105/.190/.105 start at the plate.

Jung brings a lot more offensive upside than Kreidler offers. He’s a .257/.379/.467 hitter over parts of four seasons in the minors. He put his underwhelming spring behind him and was off to a strong start to the year in Toledo. Jung has three homers with a .239/.409/.463 slash through 88 plate appearances. He has fanned 22 times while drawing 20 walks — the second-most of Triple-A hitters.

An outfield of Greene, Báez and McKinstry was certainly not Detroit’s plan entering Spring Training. They’ve needed to adapt with four outfield options (Vierling, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Manuel Margot) on the injured list. It seemed Kerry Carpenter might join them after he departed yesterday’s game with right hamstring soreness. Carpenter is not playing tonight but was not immediately placed on the injured list, as he remains day-to-day.

AL Central Notes: Carpenter, Erceg, Meidroth

By Mark Polishuk | April 20, 2025 at 10:18pm CDT

With four outfielders already on the injured list, the Tigers might’ve lost another key contributor when Kerry Carpenter left today’s 4-3 loss to the Royals with what manager A.J. Hinch described as right hamstring soreness. As Hinch told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters, Carpenter suffered the injury while running out an infield single in the seventh inning. Nothing appeared to be amiss until Carpenter was replaced in left field in the top of the ninth inning.

More will be known about Carpenter’s status tomorrow, but if he has to miss time, he’ll join Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Perez, and Manuel Margot (who was signed in late March to help address the outfield depth issue) on the increasingly crowded Detroit injured list. Carpenter likely would’ve been a part-time outfielder and part-time DH in the world where everyone was healthy, but he has played only twice at the DH position this season. Beyond the outfield crunch, Carpenter’s absence would also remove a big bat from the Tigers’ lineup, as the slugger is hitting .315/.338/.562 with five homers in his first 77 plate appearances of 2025.

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Baez, Maeda

By Nick Deeds | February 15, 2025 at 8:47pm CDT

Heading into 2025, Kerry Carpenter is one of the Tigers’ most accomplished young hitters. A career .276/.338/.512 hitter across 236 games in the majors, Carpenter missed time last year due to a lumbar spine stress fracture but raked when healthy, crushing the ball to the tune of a .284/.345/.587 slash line with 18 homers in just 87 games. For all of Carpenter’s success as a hitter, however, he’s been limited almost entirely to work against opposite-handed pitching. The lefty slugger has just 134 total plate appearances against southpaws during his time in the majors, only 32 of which came in 2024. As noted by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News, that’s an area Carpenter is hoping to get more opportunities in this season.

It’s a proposition that manager A.J. Hinch appears at least somewhat open to, with Hinch noting that Carpenter is “going to get opportunities and probably more opportunities moving forward.” Hinch also cautioned that those opportunities won’t just be gifted to Carpenter once the regular season begins, however.

“But more doesn’t mean every one. And more doesn’t come for free,” Hinch said, as relayed by McCosky. “There is a cost that comes with every decision and we will be weighing that. Last year’s evaluation doesn’t have to be this year’s evaluation. We have an open mind as to how to use our roster. But I stand behind that my job is to use the roster the best way we can.”

Concerns about Carpenter’s ability to produce against southpaws are understandable despite his minimal opportunities against them. He’s a career .202/.286/.303 hitter against lefties in the majors, with a 23.9% strikeout rate, a walk rate of 6.7%, and just four extra-base hits. Those strikeout and walk figures are actually pretty close to Carpenter’s career numbers of 25.6% and 6.9% respectively, but the complete disappearance of Carpenter’s trademark power will need to be overcome in order for the 27-year-old to be a valuable offensive presence against left-handed pitching.

In addition to more opportunities against southpaws, Carpenter is hoping to more frequently work his way into the lineup as an outfielder in 2025 rather than being limited to DH-only duties. Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez will give Carpenter some competition for that job with Riley Greene and Parker Meadows entrenched in left and center field respectively, but if Carpenter can prove himself a viable option in the field and begin providing at least passable power output against southpaws, the platoon slugger could begin to put together a more well-rounded profile in 2025.

While Carpenter is attempting to carve out a larger role for himself in the outfield, the Tigers are trying to assess the future of veteran Javier Baez on the infield. Baez, 32, missed the club’s surprise playoff push last year after undergoing hip surgery in August. The six-year pact Detroit gave Baez coming off his impressive run with the Cubs from the breakout 2018 season that saw him finish second in NL MVP voting to a 2021 season where he was traded to the Mets and caught fire down the stretch has not gone according to plan.

Since arriving in Detroit, Baez has hit just .221/.262/.347 in three seasons. He remained a plus defender at shortstop for the club in 2022 and ’23, but even his glove took a step back last season and a strong late-season performance from Trey Sweeney as the club’s shortstop has left Baez without a clear role on the team going forward. As noted by McCosky, Baez has resumed swinging at 100% strength but has not yet begun to face live pitching. Even so, he’s on track to begin the season on time, and Hinch made clear that the club is glad to have him healthy and in the fold for 2025 even if his role can’t be determined until after he’s put rehab fully behind him.

One place where Baez appears to be a clear fit for the club’s needs is against left-handed pitching. The Tigers’ offense is heavily left-handed even after adding Gleyber Torres to the lineup at second base, and a right-handed hitter who can help to spell southpaws around the infield like Sweeney and Colt Keith should have plenty of value for Detroit. Baez has been a perfectly acceptable hitter against lefties even during his time in Detroit, slashing .268/.314/.433 (108 wRC+) with a strikeout rate of just 20.1% and 24 extra base hits in 284 trips to the plate against lefties between 2022 and 2023. If he can get back to that level of production against southpaws, Baez could be a key asset for the Tigers this year even if he doesn’t bounce far enough back to reclaim an everyday role.

Baez isn’t the only veteran attempting a comeback after struggling badly in 2024. Veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda is expected to get “every opportunity” to rejoin the club’s rotation after pitching to a 6.09 ERA last year and getting kicked to the bullpen after 17 starts, and news of an injury that will keep veteran righty Alex Cobb off the roster to start the season leaves two open spots in the club’s rotation behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Reese Olson. Maeda figures to be in competition with Casey Mize, Keider Montero, and Jackson Jobe among others as he tries to earn one of those two spots.

In hopes of proving himself capable the soon to be 37-year-old hurler changed up his offseason routine this winter. According to MLive’s Evan Woodbery, Maeda began his offseason work with eight bullpen sessions during his time in Japan this offseason despite the fact that he’s typically waited until he returns stateside for Spring Training to resume throwing. The early start to his throwing program, Maeda noted, is in order to make sure he’s putting his best foot forward as he tries to recapture his rotation job this spring. In addition to starting his preseason regime earlier than usual, Maeda notes that he believes he’s fixed some mechanical issues he dealt with last year after working with the Tigers’ pitching development staff this offseason.

A return to form for Maeda would be a major help for a Tigers club with plenty of upside but little certainty in the rotation. Dominant as Skubal was in his Cy Young award-winning season last year, he’s dealt with plenty of injury issues throughout his career. The same can be said for Flaherty, Mize, Jobe, Matt Manning, and a host of other potentially key pitchers for the Tigers this year. Maeda’s own injury history is far from clean, but having an effective veteran starter at the back of the rotation should nonetheless be a major help for the club as they look for better results out of a rotation that saw only Skubal make more than 22 starts and only Mize and Olson join him in making at least 20 last year.

Tigers Reinstate Kerry Carpenter

By Darragh McDonald | August 13, 2024 at 3:15pm CDT

The Tigers announced that outfielder Kerry Carpenter has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade was optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open an active roster spot. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, right-hander Brendan White was recalled from Double-A Erie and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right elbow strain.

The return of Carpenter should be a nice boost for the Detroit lineup. He has appeared in 199 major league games to this point in his career and has hit 34 home runs in that time. His .275/.336/.495 slash line translates to a 128 wRC+, indicating he’s been 28% better than league average overall.

He landed on the IL at the end of May due to an unknown lower back injury that was later reported to be a lumbar spine stress fracture. He eventually missed over two months, getting transferred to the 60-day IL along the way, but is now able to rejoin the lineup. The Tigers are nine games back of a playoff spot and have long odds for a miracle run at this point, but it will still be good for Carpenter to get some playing time before the offseason kicks in.

White, 25, has been on Detroit’s 40-man roster since November of 2022. Last year, he was able to toss 40 2/3 innings in the big leagues with a 5.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 51.8% ground ball rate.

This year, he was optioned during Spring Training and has been in the minors all season. At the end of May, the club listed him as dealing with right elbow inflammation, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group on X. He was still experiencing elbow discomfort in July, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X.

At this point, details are still murky about what’s next but it seems the club doesn’t expect him back this year, hence the 60-day IL placement. If there’s a silver lining for White, it’s that he’ll get major league pay and service time for the rest of the season. He was able to accrue 111 days of service last year, putting him 61 days shy of the one-year mark. There’s not enough time left in 2024 for him to get over that line but he’ll creep towards it and get a little pay bump while navigating his injury absence.

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Mize, Maeda

By Nick Deeds | August 4, 2024 at 8:14am CDT

A pair of injured Tigers faced off in live batting practice yesterday, highlighting their progress towards returning to action. Outfielder Kerry Carpenter and right-hander Casey Mize both looked good during the session, which included a long home run and a single off Mize by Carpenter.

Carpenter, 27 in September, has been on the IL since May due to a lumbar spine stress fracture. He was in the midst of an incredible season when he hit the shelf, slashing a fantastic .283/.347/.572 with 10 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs in just 50 games. That performance was good enough for an excellent wRC+ of 149, and Carpenter’s return from the shelf should provide a big boost to the Tigers lineup down the stretch even as they’ve largely fallen out of playoff contention at this point. That return could be just over the horizon, as Carpenter told reporters (including Chris McCoskey of The Detroit News) yesterday that he’ll “probably” be starting a rehab assignment sometime this week. With both Carpenter and Riley Greene on the IL at the moment, the Tigers are currently relying on an outfield of Matt Vierling, Wenceel Perez, and Parker Meadows.

Despite the damage dealt by Carpenter, Mize also reportedly looked good during his two innings of work yesterday. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Greene (who also faced Mize yesterday) told reporters that the right-hander looked good and threw all of his pitches with confidence during the outing. Mize, who has been on the shelf for just over a month now due a hamstring strain, won’t be eligible to return from the 60-day IL until August 31 but could begin a rehab assignment of his own at some point in the near future as he builds back up towards MLB action. Mize’s 16 starts this year have been something of a mixed bag with a league average 4.23 ERA but a much stronger 3.69 FIP in 78 2/3 innings of work, though getting on the field at all was a meaningful step for the first overall pick of the 2018 draft after he made just two starts in 2022 and missed the whole 2023 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.

Mize’s eventual return to the rotation for the Tigers is sure to be a welcome one given the relatively dire situation the club’s starting staff has found itself in recently. After the club dealt Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers at the deadline and saw Reese Olson join Mize on the shelf due to shoulder strain late last month, the club is facing plenty of uncertainty behind ace Tarik Skubal. Rookies Bryan Sammons and Keider Montero have struggled to ERAs north of 5.00 and 6.00 respectively as fill-in starters this year while veteran righty Kenta Maeda had a 7.26 ERA in 16 starts before being moved to the bullpen just before the All-Star break.

Maeda has pitched somewhat better since moving to the bullpen, with a 4.40 ERA and a stronger 4.14 FIP in 14 1/3 innings of work across four appearances. As noted by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, manager A.J. Hinch recently told reporters that while the club expects the veteran to rejoin the rotation proper at some point, their current plan is to keep him in the bullpen for the time being while trying to get him “regular work that’s similar to a starting pitcher.” So far, that’s seemed to mean using Maeda as a bulk arm following an opener while mostly keeping him on a starting pitcher’s schedule. The Tigers are surely hoping that the 36-year-old can get right in the final months of the 2024 season as they look ahead to the final year of his two-year, $24MM contract in 2025.

Tigers Place Reese Olson On Injured List, Select Bligh Madris

By Darragh McDonald | July 21, 2024 at 10:15am CDT

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game. Right-hander Reese Olson was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain and infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. To take those two roster spots, the Tigers selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Bligh Madris and recalled left-hander Easton Lucas. To open a 40-man spot for Madris, outfielder Kerry Carpenter was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Olson started for the Tigers yesterday against the Blue Jays but departed after just two innings with the club announcing his injury as right shoulder soreness. Now it seems a strain has been discovered and he’ll need to miss at least 15 days, though it’s unclear how severe the strain is or exactly how long the club expects to be without him.

That will interrupt a very nice season for Olson, as he has made 19 starts with a 3.23 earned run average. His 21.6% strikeout rate is subpar but he’s limited walks to a 7.3% clip and kept 51.2% of balls on the ground.

The Tigers’ rotation is also without Casey Mize and Sawyer Gipson-Long, as both of those hurlers are currently on the IL. Gipson-Long had internal brace surgery in April and is done for the year while Mize has a left hamstring strain and has yet to begin a rehab assignment. In recent days, Matt Manning suffered a lat strain in the minors and won’t be an option anytime soon either.

Detroit has been hot lately, with 11 wins in their last 14 games, pulling them to within five games of a Wild Card spot in the American League. Prior to that, they looked like clearcut deadline sellers, but that looks a bit more questionable after they recent climb.

A couple of weeks ago, Jack Flaherty was the top name on MLBTR’s list of deadline trade candidates. That was due to the combination of his excellent season, his status as an impending free agent and Detroit’s place in the standings. Guys like Gio Urshela, Mark Canha and Andrew Chafin also made some sense as deadline trade candidates, while plenty of clubs have seemingly been trying to pry Tarik Skubal loose as well.

Skubal was always a long shot with his two extra years of control and he’ll probably be even harder to acquire now that the Tigers are back in the playoff picture. Whether the club trades any impending free agents in the weeks to come will be an interesting situation and could perhaps depend on how they perform in the next week.

For now, they will have to proceed without Olson, Mize, Manning or Gipson-Long. That leaves them with a rotation consisting of Flaherty, Skubal and Keider Montero. They could perhaps return Kenta Maeda to the rotation, after bumping him to the bullpen recently. Prospect Ty Madden is in Triple-A but has an 8.43 ERA there and isn’t on the 40-man roster. Other non-roster options could include Bryan Sammons, Brant Hurter or Lael Lockhart. The Tigers also have one of the best pitching prospects in the league in Jackson Jobe, though he has not yet reached Triple-A and doesn’t even have 40 innings at the Double-A level yet.

Madris, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason and has been performing well in Triple-A this year. Through 80 games at that level, he has hit 14 home runs and walked in 12.8% of his plate appearances. The offensive environment is quite strong in the International League this year so his .236/.339/.464 batting line only translates to a wRC+ of 105, but he’s also stolen 17 bases and lined up at first base and all three outfield spots.

Since optioning Spencer Torkelson to the minors, the Tigers have been rotating first base duties mostly between Canha and Urshela but neither is having an especially strong year and both of them can play other positions. They also both hit right-handed while Madris is a lefty, perhaps creating platoon opportunities. Madris has hit just .217/.314/.383 against lefties this year but .241/.346/.488 against righties. Madris is in today’s lineup at first base against righty Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays. Madris has a couple of options and less than a year of major league service time, so he could potentially be a long-term piece for the Tigers if he continues to hold onto his 40-man spot.

As for Carpenter, this move is largely a formality as he’s almost been on the IL for 60 days already. He landed there at the end of May due to a lumbar spine stress fracture and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. He’ll be eligible to come off the IL once it’s been 60 days from his initial placement. That’s only a few days away but he’s not close to a return anyhow.

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Canha, Harris, Spending

By Mark Polishuk | June 1, 2024 at 1:03pm CDT

1:03PM: Canha told reporters (including Petzold) and other reporters that he has a strain of his psoas muscle, but the injury “feels a lot better today” than it did Friday. Canha won’t play today but intends to be in Sunday’s lineup, and coming out of that game in good health could determine whether or not an IL stint is needed.

9:45AM: Kerry Carpenter was placed on the Tigers’ 10-day injured list earlier this week with what was described as lumbar spine inflammation, but the issue has unfortunately proven to be more serious. The club announced on Friday that Carpenter “is currently completing rehab for a lumbar spine stress fracture,” with no recovery timeline provided. Manager A.J. Hinch could have more details during his pregame chat with media later today, but it would appear as though Carpenter will be sidelined for at least a month, and potentially quite longer depending on the severity of the fracture.

It’s tough news for the 26-year-old Carpenter, who has quietly been Detroit’s best hitter since he made his MLB debut during the 2022 season. After hitting .273/.334/.474 with 26 homers in 572 plate appearances in 2022-23, Carpenter has taken it up another level this year, with a hefty 154 wRC+ from a slash line of .283/.342/.572 and eight home runs in his first 163 PA.

Carpenter’s production has again stood out within a Tigers lineup that has struggled to generate consistent offense. Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez have earned more playing time due to their solid numbers, while among the players projected to be regulars going into the season, Riley Greene and Mark Canha are the only other batters besides Carpenter who have hit well. However, Canha’s status is also a question mark after he was scratched from Friday’s lineup due to soreness in his left hip.

“It’s been bothering me for a week or so,” Canha told reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. “It was getting worse and worse and today was the pinnacle. It got to a point where I had to shut it down.”

For now, Canha is day to day, though he has undergone testing to see if a more serious problem is causing the hip discomfort. Acquired in a trade with the Brewers last November, Canha has delivered a 120 wRC+ (.247/.358/.401 with six home runs) in his first 215 PA in a Tigers uniform, bouncing around between the DH spot, both corner outfield positions, and some occasional work at first base. Canha’s numbers have generally been down in May, though one of his best hitting stretches of the season has actually come over the last week of play, when he was hampered by his hip injury.

Needless to say, the Tigers would be hard-pressed to lose both Carpenter and Canha for any notable length of time. Removing both hitters would put more pressure on Greene, Vierling, and Perez to stay hot, and increase the pressure on Detroit’s many struggling hitters to get on track. Colt Keith and the Jake Rogers/Carson Kelly catching tandem have started to pick it up after dismal starts to the season, but quite a bit more will be required to dig the Tigers out of their early hole in the AL Central race. A trendy dark horse pick to win the division heading into the season, the Tigers sit in fourth place with a 28-29 record, 10 games behind the first-place Guardians.

While Detroit still has four months of regular season to cut into that deficit, it is fair to wonder if the clock is really closer to two months, as in the July 30 trade deadline. The Tigers could conceivably be deadline sellers if they remain around .500 and the Guardians (or the surprising Royals, or the reigning division champion Twins) have all continued to pull away from the pack. Even if the Tigers do get back into the race, it isn’t clear just how aggressive they might be in making potential additions at the deadline, given that president of baseball operations Scott Harris again reiterated earlier this week that the organization isn’t yet planning any significant payroll boost.

“We’re not quite there yet as far as spending at that level because we need to build the foundation of this team to put us in a position to supplement it with free agent signings in the upcoming winters,” Harris said in an MLB Network interview with Brian Kenny (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). “I have confidence that the resources will be there. The Ilitch family has always supported the Tigers, and they are ready and eager to do it….We just have to develop the core that we’re going to spend around, and we also have to target the players in upcoming winters that can really help us.”

The Tigers’ payroll has naturally dropped as the club has undergone a lengthy rebuilding period, and Detroit hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since going 86-75 in 2016. The splashy signings of Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez during the 2021-22 offseason seemed to indicate that the rebuild was over, yet multiple pitching injuries and a near team-wide offensive slump resulted in a 96-loss season. Former GM Al Avila was fired in August 2022, leading to Harris’ hiring a month later as the person tasked with finally getting the Motor City back into contention.

The end of Miguel Cabrera’s contract removed the Tigers’ biggest financial commitment from the books last winter, plus Rodriguez departed to sign with the Diamondbacks (for four years and $80MM) after opting out of the last three years and $49MM on his Tigers contract. Still, the team didn’t reinvest those savings back into the roster, as the Tigers opened the season with a payroll of roughly $97.6MM, and only made modest spends this past winter on Canha and free agents Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty.

Baez’s struggles have only worsened over his three seasons in Detroit, and the heretofore disastrous nature of that contract acts as a cautionary tale for those critical of Harris’ measured approach to spending. That said, Petzold notes that Tarik Skubal’s remaining years of arbitration control (through the 2026 season) might serve as a window for the Tigers to make a push to contend, since Skubal has emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. Other promising young starters as well as Greene, Carpenter, and Keith might already form a good enough core to contend, and if Harris and ownership hold off on bigger spending until even more prospects arrive and get established, the timeline might extend past Skubal’s time with the team. Of course, locking up Skubal to a big extension would be a way for the Tigers to both increase payroll and secure a core player in a single move.

Tigers Place Kerry Carpenter On Injured List, Call Up Keider Montero For MLB Debut

By Anthony Franco and Steve Adams | May 29, 2024 at 9:30am CDT

The Tigers have placed outfielder Kerry Carpenter on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back injury and recalled right-hander Keider Montero as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Pirates, per a team announcement. (Montero’s promotion was first reported on X by Tigers Torkmoil.) Outfielder Akil Baddoo was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take Carpenter’s spot on the roster. Montero will start Game 2 of today’s twin bill.

Carpenter tells the Tigers beat that he began experiencing back discomfort over the weekend and hasn’t seen improvement yet (X link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). The team is terming his injury “lumbar spine inflammation.” He last played in a game on May 26, so the IL placement is backdated to May 27. If it proves to be a minor issue, he’ll be eligible for a return eight days from now, though the Tigers haven’t given any indication as to how long he might miss.

Subtracting the 26-year-old Carpenter from the Detroit lineup is a significant blow. He’s not as well known as more hyped prospects like outfield-mate Riley Greene, but Carpenter has burst onto the big league scene and cemented himself as a middle-of-the-order presence. Dating back to his 2022 debut, Carpenter has turned in a stout .275/.336/.495 batting line — including a huge .283/.345/.572 slash and eight homers in 163 plate appearances this season. He’s generally struggled against left-handed opponents but has tormented righties with a career .288/.345/.535 output.

With Carpenter sidelined, the Tigers will give more playing time to lefty-swinging Zach McKinstry and to Baddoo against right-handed opponents. Neither should be expected to replicate Carpenter’s production, but Baddoo was hitting a strong .260/.368/.486 in Toledo (119 wRC+) and is a career .237/.322/.406 hitter against righties in the big leagues.

As for the 23-year-old Montero, this will be his first major league call. He signed with Detroit out of Venezuela in 2016 and was added to the 40-man roster last offseason to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency. Montero spent a half decade in the low minors before breaking into the upper levels last season, climbing from High-A to Triple-A by year’s end.

Monerto took the ball 27 times and logged 127 1/3 innings. A pedestrian 4.66 ERA belied a more impressive 29.1% strikeout rate. The Tigers were concerned enough about losing him in the Rule 5 draft to put him on the 40-man roster. Baseball America ranked him as the organization’s #13 prospect over the winter, crediting him with good control and an arsenal headlined by a mid-90s fastball.

Montero has spent the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Toledo. Over nine starts, he has a 4.40 ERA. The 6’1″ righty has fanned almost 27% of batters faced while issuing walks at an uncharacteristically high 12.7% clip. Montero last pitched on May 21 and was slated to take the ball for Toledo on Tuesday. The Tigers scratched him from the scheduled appearance after their game was postponed, when they needed to add another arm for the doubleheader.

In all likelihood, they’ll return Montero to Triple-A after his debut. They’re set in the rotation at the moment with Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Kenta Maeda and Casey Mize. Righty Matt Manning has been the team’s sixth starter and still figures to be above Montero on the depth chart. It’s nevertheless a momentous occasion for Montero, whose spot on the 40-man could get him a few looks over the course of the season if injuries or the schedule force Detroit to lean on their depth.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Miller, Valera, Carpenter

By Mark Polishuk | February 24, 2024 at 1:24pm CDT

The Twins brought back four players from the Mariners in exchange for Jorge Polanco last month, though Minnesota’s first target was right-hander Bryce Miller, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports. Miller and fellow rookie Bryan Woo were among the most sought-after trade targets of the winter, yet the Mariners weren’t eager to move either pitcher, or anyone from their crop of young and controllable starters. While Polanco fills a big need for Seattle at second base, he is only under team control through the 2025 season, so any kind of Polanco-for-Miller swap would’ve needed to be much different on Minnesota’s end to land Miller’s services.

Have The Tigers Found A Hidden Gem Of A Slugger?

By Mark Polishuk | August 27, 2023 at 9:28am CDT

The 2022 Tigers were baseball’s worst offensive team, as the lineup’s near-total lack of production was the chief cause (even beyond a staggering number of pitcher injuries) for a hugely disappointing 66-96 record in what was supposed to be a return to contention. “Best batter on the 2022 Tigers” is pretty faint praise, and Kerry Carpenter’s 113 plate appearances last season didn’t even make him a qualified hitter, yet Carpenter still took the dubious honor by posting a team-leading 124 wRC+ over his 31 games of work in his rookie season.

While Carpenter hadn’t really been on Detroit’s radar last year amidst the bigger-name veterans or more highly-touted prospects on the roster, a club so suddenly desperate for hitting could hardly afford to look past a promising bat. This earned him a larger share of playing time heading into 2023, though Carpenter had a modest .217/.280/.464 slash line over his first 75 PA this season. He was then dealt another setback when he sprained his right shoulder at the end of April, resulting in about six weeks on the injured list.

Upon returning from the IL, however, Carpenter has not just been the Tigers’ best batter, but also quietly one of the most productive bats in baseball. Since Carpenter was activated on June 9, only nine qualified hitters have topped his 159 wRC+, as he has slashed .317/.380/.575 over 245 PA. He joined the 20-homer club this past Wednesday, with a grand slam that represented all of Detroit’s offense in a 6-4 loss to the Cubs.

These types of numbers are impressive for anyone, but especially for a 19th-round draft pick from the 2019 draft. Carpenter hit well in his first pro season, but likely due to the canceled 2020 minor league campaign, he took a bit of a step back in 2021 with a .752 OPS over 461 PA for Double-A Erie. Carpenter returned to Erie to begin the 2022 season, but he started to tear up pitching at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels, finishing 2022 with a .313/.380/.645 line and 30 homers over an even 400 PA for the two affiliates.

In this sense, Carpenter didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, though few would’ve predicted that he would’ve kept swinging a hot bat in the majors. And, it is worth noting that Carpenter has still totaled only 433 PA in the big leagues — too small a sample size to clearly state that he is truly for real. Carpenter’s walk and strikeout rates are also a bit below the league average, and he has some significant splits, as his left-handed swing is lot more productive against right-handed pitching (.938 OPS) than against southpaws (.724 OPS). Carpenter has also benefited from a .328 BABIP this season, and his .382 wOBA is well above his .362 xwOBA.

That said, a .362 xwOBA ranks in the 87th percentile of all batters, so Carpenter’s production would be very notable if he was “only” delivering at that expected level. His contact and barrel rates are both well north of average, so it isn’t like he is getting lucky on soft contact. And, while we’re still operating within a small overall sample size of career at-bats, Carpenter is doing much better against left-handed pitching in 2023 than he did in 2022.

On the defensive side, Carpenter has made some positive strides as a corner outfielder, spending most of his time in right field this year. A Gold Glove isn’t necessarily in Carpenter’s future, but public metrics have rated his right field work as just a touch below average. The UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved metrics have been more impressed by his 72 1/3 innings in left field, though Carpenter’s solid throwing arm probably makes him a better fit in right field. While more DH at-bats will be available in Detroit once Miguel Cabrera retires, Carpenter certainly looks like at least a passable corner outfielder, which gives the Tigers more flexibility in how they’ll manage their roster going forward.

Detroit’s 2023 offense is still near the bottom of the league, but there have at least been some signs of life with Carpenter’s production, and solid showings from former top draft picks Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. Blue-chip star prospects like Greene and Torkelson have been the faces of the Tigers’ lineup of the future, but striking paydirt on a less-regarded player or two has always been a key element of any successful rebuild. It looks like the Tigers might have found at least an MLB regular with their 19th-round selection, and Carpenter’s elite production over the last few months might also hint at a higher ceiling.

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