Can Matt Carpenter rebound and hold onto job as St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman?
Those expecting Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter to explain away a disappointing 2019 season through pledges for improvement and blind optimism instead received a dose of unvarnished reality.
Carpenter didn’t downplay his poor results. Instead, he faced them head on.
“Felt like I was in the fetal position most of the time,” Carpenter said, crediting ex-teammate Lance Berkman for the comparison. “My favorite line of his is ‘if you’re going to hit in the big leagues you’ve got to learn how to hit in the fetal position.’ It’s pretty true. I did not feel most of the year – I felt like I was in a hole before the at-bat started.”
Carpenter hit just .226 with 15 home runs and 46 RBI in 2019. His on base percentage fell 40 points from the year before. His slugging percentage plummeted by 131 points. He recorded his fewest number of hits — 94 — since his rookie season, and his 20 doubles were the lowest total he’s put on the board in any full season of his career.
Those numbers all followed an early season contract extension which guarantees him at least $39 million over the next two seasons, in which he will be 34 and 35 years old.
“I think that the way the year went for me getting off to a slow start kind of just snowballed and it felt like at times I was trying to save a season with one swing, and it just wasn’t a good recipe for success,” Carpenter conceded. “I just kind of got myself into a hole.”
Despite being largely relegated to the bench for the last month of the regular season and into the postseason, Carpenter maintains a firm grasp on a regular spot in the lineup. Monday’s comments from chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. and reporting from the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders have all but put an end to the hopes of a trade for Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. Tommy Edman, who played in Carpenter’s stead, has more value for the Cardinals as a multi-position starter. Nolan Gorman is a few years from the major leagues.
The job is Carpenter’s, if he can hold it.
“Sometimes we get in between of our identities and I feel like that has taken place with Matt a little bit,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “He came up and most of us aware that he came up hitting the ball the other way, using the whole field, kind of gap to gap, a lot of doubles, and then the game changed a little bit, Matt changed with it. Pull the ball. Did pull the ball. Hit a lot of homers. Ninth in MVP voting. Let’s don’t forget some of these things.”
“But then tried to figure out who am I, where am I, what am I doing. And I feel really comfortable and confident that he’s created some clarity to what that looks like and he’ll be a piece of our offense for sure and I’m sure a fairly big one.”
The search for clarity has been bedeviling to Carpenter, who spoke at length about chasing his swing, balancing different aspects of his game, and searching for the balance which brings him into today’s game while still accentuating his strengths.
“That’s been the constant struggle for me as a player – to figure out kind of what my identity is as a hitter,” Carpenter said. “One thing that I know I can always do is find a way to get on base. But as far as the balance between hitting for average and hitting for power and what that looks like and who am I and what is best suited for our club — those are the questions that I ask myself all the time. And every year is different.”
The various projection tools available on the internet are all bullish on a big 2020 from Carpenter. His 2019 season was so far afield of his career norms that it’s hard not to imagine a substantial rebound, even if the natural aging curve would suggest that a 34-year-old player is unlikely to climb back to the pinnacle of his abilities. There are strong parallels to be drawn with outfielder Dexter Fowler, whose lost 2018 gave way to a serviceable 2019.
To his credit, Carpenter stood for the longest interview session of the weekend by any player. He absorbed every question about a poor performance for which he has few definitive answers, and displayed precisely the contrition that he took to the coaching staff at the end of the 2019 season. It was appropriate then. Now, the Cardinals need that frustration to give way to fire.
“I was very candid with our front office and our coaching staff at the end of the year that really I just wanted to apologize,” Carpenter said. “I felt like I had let them down. Was really hard on myself, the way that I played and was hopeful that they still had faith in me. We had some good conversations, just like everybody does you have to come into spring training and try to earn a job.
“It’s a not a guarantee. That’s my mindset. I want to come in and find a way back on the field more consistently and help our group. You’ve got to perform to do that. Nothing is given to you. I’m ready for that challenge.”
