Carpenter out for Cards' series in Pittsburgh due to extreme fatigue
The Cardinals will have to try to stay hot on the road without their top hitter.
Matt Carpenter didn't travel with the team to Pittsburgh and will miss the entire series against the Pirates, according to FOX Sports Midwest reporter Jim Hayes, who spoke to manager Mike Matheny before Friday night's game. Team doctors diagnosed the third baseman after he felt an accelerated heart rate and dehydration last weekend, which forced him to leave last Sunday's 14-inning, 3-2 win over Pittsburgh in the eighth.
"It really came down to an issue where the medical team just saw some extreme fatigue and their suggestion was we've just got to back off," Matheny told reporters, which aired on FOX Sports Midwest's Cardinals Live pregame show. "It's a grind of a season and I don't think it's coincidence that we're right in the middle of a 20-game stretch. I don't think it's coincidence that the intensity of the kind of games we've been playing and coincidence of a guy that just does not back off. It's just full throttle all the time."
Matheny also noted the need to pay closer attention to Carpenter going forward.
"It happens to every player, even as they age, that they’ve got to do things just a little bit differently," Matheny said. "And I think that, yeah, we’re going to have to be real attentive to how he's grinding."
The Cardinals hope Carpenter will be able to return for Tuesday's game in Cleveland, a day after they take their first day off after 20 straight games. The team won't make a roster move just yet, leaving Matheny just three position players on the bench with eight pitchers in the bullpen.
Carpenter had started the first 27 games of the season before finally sitting out in what was said to be a scheduled day off against Jake Arrieta and the Cubs on Thursday afternoon. Carpenter played a pivotal role in a franchise-best 20-6 start and leads the team with 14 doubles, five home runs, 23 runs, 20 RBIs and a 1.024 OPS.
Two home runs are his only two hits in his last 18 at-bats, including a three-run shot to propel the Cardinals to a 7-4 win Tuesday night. Carpenter had two hits in 16 of his first 22 games and ranks second on the team behind Matt Holliday with a .333 batting average.
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