Padres News: Matt Carpenter Doesn’t Know Why He Stopped Getting Opportunities This Year
As the season starts to wind down, the San Diego Padres are filled with a sense of disappointment. They came into the year with heavy expectations on their shoulders, but they just haven’t been able to live up to the hype that was placed on them.
While they aren’t technically eliminated from postseason contention, their chances are looking pretty bleak at this point. It has been a very frustrating year for this franchise, and one that they won’t soon forget.
Many of the free agent signings that they had over the offseason never lived up to what the team thought. One of those has been infielder Matt Carpenter, but he has been seeing a little more playing time of late.
Carpenter has struggled at the plate this season, but he has stuck with things. He never let it get him down and has always been ready whenever the team has called his name to step up.
The veteran got another chance over the weekend against the Houston Astros and showed some of what he could do. He spoke about it after the game on Sunday.
“I felt like I could have (played this way) at any point,” Carpenter said. “For whatever reason, I haven’t got a ton of opportunities lately. But I’m just gonna keep trying to do my best when I do get those opportunities.”
He has been in the league for a while now, so he has seen it all. Carpenter understands that it is a business at the end of the day, so all he can do is be ready to go when called upon.
On the year, he is hitting just .176 with five home runs and 31 runs batted in. While it hasn’t been the year that he was expecting, he has remained professional throughout.
“Just put in the work and just prepare,” he said. “I haven’t changed any of my habits of what I would do if I was playing, regardless of whether I’m not. Still watching video, still scouting pitchers, preparing like I would get an opportunity and just treating it like I otherwise would be in the lineup.”
Maybe this is the start of a late-season resurgence for the veteran player. If he can produce, it could help him get ready for next season, as he holds a player option for $5.5 million with the Padres.
