A couple of months ago, the New York Yankees scooped up veteran Matt Carpenter from waivers, when the Texas Rangers didn’t want or need him anymore.
At the time, it was seen as a depth move for a franchise that had some injury issues at the time.
Carpenter has always had power: he hit 108 home runs in a four-year span from 2015 to 2018 and has 168 career dingers, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals.
However, he has morphed into the resurgence of Barry Bonds during his time with the Yankees.
He has been so good that he’s starting to get some much-deserved extra playing time.
Carpenter is hitting .354/.469/.911 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in just 31 games and 97 plate appearances.
His full-season home run pace is incredible, and he has been hitting for average and getting on base at an impressive clip, too.
A Humble, Hungry Slugger
Yankees insider Lindsey Adler summed up Carpenter’s story with the Bombers this year in a brilliant tweet.
“Matt Carpenter, a guy who showed up in the Yankees clubhouse in Tampa with nothing to lose, who said he would load the bags on the team plane if they asked, and attended his first hitters meeting in jeans, just got a standing ovation while coming to the plate in a Sox-Yanks game,” she wrote.
Matt Carpenter, a guy who showed up in the Yankees clubhouse in Tampa with nothing to lose, who said he would load the bags on the team plane if they asked, and attended his first hitters meeting in jeans, just got a standing ovation while coming to the plate in a Sox-Yanks game.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 17, 2022
Carpenter came in as a waivers castoff, with no set role and a modest deal to prove himself after slumping over the last couple of years.
The organization gave him some tools and resources to improve, and he took full advantage of them (and Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch, too).
He was humble and hungry when he first got to the Bronx.
Now, he is one of the Yankees’ best hitters, and that’s saying a lot.
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