Is Matt Carpenter washed? Well, the New York Yankees don’t seem to think so. The Bronx Bombers signed the three-time All-Star today and inserted him into the lineup tonight for their 7-2 win at the Tampa Bay Rays. Carpenter DHed, went 0-for-2, but drew a walk and scored two runs.
Carpenter was signed by the Texas Rangers to a minor league contract in spring training, after hitting just .169 with 18R, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 3HR, 21RBI, 35BB and 2SB in 130 games with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.
Last season, it really did look like he was washed up, but he performed pretty well at AAA Round Rock, where he batted .275 (22-for-80) with 15R, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 6HR, 19RBI, 14BB and 1SB in 21 games before getting released one week ago.
In his heyday though, Matt Carpenter was a beast for the #BFIB (or at least was Cardinals fans like to think/call themselves).
The 36-year-old ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders in walks (sixth), doubles (13th), home runs (13th) and extra-base hits (13th, 484).
He made the MLB All-Star game in 2013, 2014 and 2016, with ’13 being his finest season. That year, he finished fourth in NL MVP voting and won the Silver Slugger award for second base.
He led the Major Leagues with 126R and 55 doubles, while batting .318 with 7 triples, 11HR, 78RBI and 72BB in 157 games.
Over a six-year span from 2013-18, he led the Majors in doubles (241) and ranked second in runs scored (609).
He was certainly Hall of Pretty Good during the 2010s, and it will certainly be interesting to see just what he still has left in the tank now.
It’s a low-risk, but potentially decent reward move here by the Yankees.
very classy move by the #yankees @RaysBaseball and @MLBNetwork
Will proudly wear mine tonight. #RepBX #YankeesTwitter https://t.co/xaCpm8404S— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) May 26, 2022
Also, in case you missed it, tonight’s game aired on MLB Network, instead of the RSNs, as both teams utilized their own networks to inform viewers about the current gun violence epidemic in our country.
See the following tweets below:
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2022
In lieu of game coverage and in collaboration with @Yankees, we will use our channels to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence.
The devastating events that took place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
This comes in the wake of yet another easily preventable and utterly tragic mass shooting, this time taking place at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
We covered this topic extensively, earlier this week, in response to the commentary and insights of Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.