Detroit Tigers Slugger Reveals His Plan To Become Superstar-Caliber Player

The Detroit Tigers and their star slugger have a plan in place this spring to help him take the next step in his career.

Oct 12, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) celebrates in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers have a great collection of young talent.

That was on display last year when they got hot at the right time down the final stretch of the regular season to get into the playoffs and surprised the baseball world by sweeping the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round.

But outside of Tarik Skubal, there isn't a true star player on this roster when it comes to the landscape of the MLB.

Riley Greene could become that if he continues to improve and stays healthy. Parker Meadows and Colt Keith might take the next steps in their young careers to meet the highly-touted prospect status they had, but outside of them, there's a whole lot of "good" and not "great."

However, one player who has the profile to join Skubal in the true star echelon is Kerry Carpenter.

Since stepping foot on the Major League diamond, Carpenter has been an elite hitter with a career 135 OPS+ and a figure that was 59 points above the league average of 100 this past season.

There are only two things that have held the slugger back; staying healthy and struggling against left-handed pitching.

Last year, Carpenter wasn't given a ton of opportunities against lefties, but when he did face them, his .107/.194/.214 slash line across 28 at-bats left much to be desired. In comparison, he slashed .305/.363/.631 in 236 at-bats against righties, a massive difference that has caused manager A.J. Hinch to keep the slugger out of the lineup when the Tigers are facing left-handers.

But, there is a plan in place to fix that this spring.

"Carpenter is going to ask Hinch to play him against every left-handed starter and reliever in spring training games, and when he's not in games, he wants to be able to walk to the backfields to take swings against left-handers from his own team," reported Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of that.

Hinch stated his job as manager is to put together the best roster on a daily basis to produce runs, so even though Carpenter wants to be an everyday player going forward, if the outfielder can't perform well against lefties, then he won't be in the lineup.

However, if he can fix his issues against left-handed pitching, then the ceiling is high for the 27-year-old.

"Carpenter already crushes right-handed pitchers, so his value would skyrocket — from a Joc Pederson-caliber player to a Yordan Alvarez-caliber player," added Petzold.

That might seem hyperbolic, but when looking at the numbers from Yordan Alvarez in his first 231 games of his career compared to Carpenter's 236, the comp is there.

Alvarez posted a 173 OPS+ in his rookie season and had a 136 OPS+ in 2021 after only appearing in two contests during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. That's in the same range of what Carpenter has put up during his short Major League career.

What stands out is how good Alvarez is against lefties, though.

He has virtually the same batting average when facing right-handers and left-handers, making him one of the most difficult hitters to face in Major League Baseball.

That's what Carpenter is aiming to become.

And with this plan in place during the spring, he and the Tigers are hoping that happens sooner rather than later.