Matt Carpenter was released by the Cardinals last year and thought he’d never touch the baseball field
again. A once reliable bat had an abysmal two seasons that ultimately led the Cardinals to not want him back. After he was granted free agency in November, he went on a countrywide road trip to find his swing and make it back to baseball.
The lefty stick traveled to various places around the U.S. receiving help from coaches, old teammates, and ex-rivals. After all that work, the Texas Rangers decided to give him a chance by offering him a minor league contract.
He played for Texas’ Triple-A affiliate for two months. After being released by the organization on May 19, Carpenter was promptly picked up by the Yankees a week later.
His first game on May 26 didn’t have much productivity, but the following night, he was back in the lineup and hit a home run for his first hit as a Yankee.
And he hasn’t stopped mashing since.
Four days after his first blast in pinstripes, Carpenter hit a leadoff homer off reigning MVP, Shohei Ohtani. Two days later, he hit another and then the next night he hit one more — 4 home runs in 16 at bats.
Two months into his Bronx tenure, he currently sits at 14 home runs in 35 games, an absurd pace. Aaron
Judge may be on pace for an AL record 62 home runs this season. But Matt Carpenter, when adjusting his statistics to a full campaign, would be on pace to hit 64.
To get to this point, Carpenter needed some help. He first called longtime rival Joey Votto, of the Cincinnati Reds, who was on vacation in Paris at the time of the call. Votto was not expecting the call, but was more than happy to offer some guidance to the struggling Carpenter.
Votto had dealt with his own bit of decline before talking to a golf coach about how to generate more force in his swing. It was this knowledge he passed on to Carpenter, who then set out to revamp his swing completely.
Carpenter’s journey next took him to a hitting lab in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a coach in Santa Clarita, California, and then a college team in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
While in Triple A for the Rangers, Carpenter launched a home run at 107 mph – confirmation that his unique offseason process was paying off. Though he knew things were clicking, the Rangers elected not
to call Carpenter up.
Their loss became the best team in baseball’s gain. The New York Yankees and Matt Carpenter have been a perfect pairing. In addition to his home run prowess, Carpenter has also compiled 35 runs batted in, a .323 batting average, and has a sky-high On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage of 1.270.
Comparatively, Carpenter played in 130 games for St. Louis in 2021, and didn’t come close to sniffing any of these numbers.
Carpenter’s signature calling card that has endeared him to fans and the highlight reels alike? His mustache. Typically sporting a full-fledged beard, the Yankees have a “no facial hair policy” that, if it’s iconic enough, does not extend to mustaches. Carpenter has drawn comparisons to the W.B. Mason mascot and Super Mario’s brother Luigi, with him and teammate Nestor Cortes being dubbed the “Super Stache Bros” as a result.
The power of the “stache” has been prominent so far. As the Yankees continue a historic season, the hope is that Carpenter can continue to make magic until a World Series trophy is lifted in New York for the
first time since 2009.
