by CLEVELAND – The Detroit Tigers are hoping slugger Kerry Carpenter can come off the bench in Saturday’s decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Guardians despite a hamstring injury.
Carpenter was injured while baserunning in Game 4 on Thursday night.
The quick turnaround — and MLB’s decision to move the start time up seven hours because of the possibility of inclement weather — didn’t give him much recovery time.
But manager AJ Hinch said Carpenter took batting practice Friday and felt better. Hinch said Carpenter will complete a full practice before the game before the team makes a decision on whether he can play.
“He’s sore and experiencing some discomfort and not feeling 100%, but he’s also feeling some adrenaline for Game 5 in the ALDS,” Hinch said. “So this is a good antidote to not feeling at his best and hopefully the adrenaline and excitement will outweigh the issues he’s dealing with.”
“He was happy with the way he batted. I was happy with the way he batted. Our batsmen felt he was taking full swings. And when he woke up this morning he was on the early bus and was in great spirits. So when?” I saw the big smile and became more and more optimistic that we would get good news.
Carpenter entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of Game 2 and hit a three-run home run off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in his second at-bat in the ninth inning as the Tigers won 3-0 to balance the series.
The Tigers need Carpenter’s power. He had 18 home runs that season despite playing in only 87 games due to a stress fracture in his lower back that sidelined him from May 26 to August 13.
Since the Guardians started left-hander Matthew Boyd for Game 5, Carpenter, who bats from left, likely wouldn’t have been in the starting lineup anyway. He started on the bench when Boyd started Game 2.
