Is Carpenter still best suited as a leadoff hitter for Cardinals?
For now, the St. Louis Cardinals going to continue using Matt Carpenter as the team's leadoff hitter for 2016. However, with a breakout 2015 season, does he still fit the role of leading off?
While he has the typical traits of a leadoff man with a high on-base percentage (.375 career average), Carpenter showed a new trait in 2015 -- power numbers.
Hitting 28 home runs -- three more than his career total prior to 2015 -- long with 84 RBI, are Carpenter's skills better suited for the middle of the Cardinals' lineup?
"If Mike (Matheny) calls me tomorrow and says, 'Hey you're going to bat in the three-hole tomorrow,' it's not going to affect what I do as a hitter," Carpenter said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's not like I have to go practice hitting as a three-hole hitter. There is nothing I'm going to change. If that's something that they decide, I'll be ready for it."
With just one year of lofty power numbers under his belt, it remains to be seen if the power was just a fluke or the "new" Carpenter.
"As far as am I a guy who is going to be a consistent power hitter, I don't know. I think it's just too early to tell. But I think I've shown that ability," Carpenter said. "It was just uncharted territory. I have never gone through anything like that power display."
Carpenter, who typically takes a lot of pitches during at bats, has seen his number of walks increase in three seasons as a starter for the Cardinals, but curiously, his strikeout numbers took a leap from 111 to 151 between 2014 and 2015. Despite the inconsistency year-to-year with his stats, Carpenter has been a vastly valuable piece of the St. Louis lineup.
"Looking back, I have had three full seasons as a starter, and I feel like I have been different each year. I feel like there are pieces of each season I'd like to morph into one complete year. If I had a goal for 2016, that would be what it would be -- every year that I've had here in St. Louis, maybe have bits and pieces of that," Carpenter said. "I think I'm just continuing to develop and figuring out who I am as a hitter. Last year was a big step forward in finding out I have some untapped power in there that I didn't necessarily realize that I had. Now it's just a matter of putting it all together."
Regardless of where Carpenter ends up hitting in the Cardinals' lineup for 2016, he plans to keep the same strategy at the plate.
"If there are two things I know I can do consistently, it's get on base and see a lot of pitches. That is the backbone of who I am as a hitter," he said.
Carpenter hit either first or second in the lineup for most of the games he played last season. The numbers speak for themselves as he posted significantly better stats at leadoff. As a leadoff hitter in 80 games, he batted .312 with 22 home runs and 50 RBI with an OPS of 1.022. As the No. 2 hitter, he hit .225 with six home runs and 33 RBI with a OPS of .700.
"I've been told that part of what happened last year was because I moved into the two-hole. That had nothing to do with it," Carpenter said. "As a matter of fact, when I first moved into the spot, I was hitting really well and I got where I was at physically and it went downhill from there. There is no place in the lineup I'm going to feel more comfortable in [than another]."
While Carpenter may not feel different hitting second in the lineup, from the numbers, it would seem Carpenter is more comfortable as the No. 1 hitter. Cardinals manager Matheny is confident Carpenter can produce no matter where he is placed in the lineup, even if it is eventually in the middle of the order.
"[Carpenter is] going to give you the great-soldier answer that 'I'm going to take the exact same at-bat whether you bat me first or eighth or anywhere in between.' And that's what you want to hear from guys," Matheny said. "But to us, it looked different. Our offense looked different. And I think that's part of our responsibility is to put these pieces together. How do we make it look right and give our guys the best chance? Last year, we needed him at the top of the order."
While the debate will likely continue throughout spring training as to where Carpenter should hit, the Cardinals certainly are going to do whatever it takes to get the most out of their hitter.
