No team has pinch-hit and platooned as much as the Detroit Tigers have over the last several years. It’s been a key part of their identity and one of the biggest reasons for their success over the last few years. A.J. Hinch plays the matchups more than any other manager in baseball. More often than not, it’s worked. There is one major exception: the way he chooses to use Kerry Carpenter. When Kerry Carpenter plays, he’s the best hitter on the Tigers, but when he plays is entirely up to his manager, and there still seems to be a major hesitation to make him an everyday player.
This week on Chris and Company, while discussing the modern approach to major league hitting, Sean Casey and I got onto the topic of platoon hitters, and Kerry Carpenter‘s name just happened to come up. Casey agrees with most Tiger fans that it’s time to start giving Kerry Carpenter at-bats against left-handed pitching.
Emotion plays a big part in all of this. Carpenter would be better suited as an everyday guy, and the Reigns were admittedly taken off a little bit last year. Still, when you look at Kerry's career numbers against lefties, they aren’t great by any means, but the sample size is still so small that it’s hard to say whether or not he deserves to be solely a platoon guy. He had some big-time home runs against left-handers a year ago, including one in the deciding game of the ALDS against the Mariners that put the Tigers in front.
Even though the numbers are somewhat ugly (.606 OPS in 179 AB’s), there is truth in the notion that these players are going to have to learn at some point. I understand that as a manager, you have to do what’s best for your team, but Kerry Carpenter is considered part of the core here. I can see Tiger fans everywhere sharing Casey’s sentiment here.