245 replies to this topic

[sportsfreak2744]

.294/.365/.463  last year in 296 AB's.  

Cardinals have told him to focus on 2nd base this offseason.

What can we expect from him should he get regular playing time and/or a full season of ABs?

[TrueShoe]

 sportsfreak2744, on 20 December 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

.294/.365/.463  last year in 296 AB's.  

Cardinals have told him to focus on 2nd base this offseason.

What can we expect from him should he get regular playing time and/or a full season of ABs?

The kid can rake.  Can he do it over a whole season?  Probably not with the ratios he had last year.  But if he could produce something close to last year over 550 ABs he would totally be worth a look.

[Morat]

http://rotoprofessor...seball/?p=17286

Matt Carpenter – St. Louis Cardinals
Another player angling fo a position change, with light-hitting Daniel Descalso currently holding down the job and Kolten Wong likely not ready, if he proves capable he could break camp with the team.  Jose Oquendo, who is working with Carpenter, was recently quoted by Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“He’s ahead of schedule,” said Oquendo today at the Cardinals camp, which officially will open on Tuesday when pitchers and catchers have their first full-scale practice. “Now. . . it’s the games.”

Carpenter opens a little bit of offensive upside, having hit .294 with 6 HR, 46 RBI and 44 R in 296 AB.  His HR/FB was realistic (7.0%) and he hit the ball exceptionally hard (23.8% line drive).  A .299 career hitter in the minor leagues, he has the upside of hitting 15-20 HR with a strong average.  At second base, those numbers would definitely translate well.

I quote the above from rotoprofessor. Oquendo skipped coaching the WBC in order to help.  One can only hope this shows how serious the Cards are about Carp's move to 2B.  I wonder if they would actually name him the opening day starter or just leave things up in the air?

Edited by Morat, 19 February 2013 - 04:08 PM.

[myzto]

6'3 200 is a big guy for second base. That has to impact his ability on defense.

[crotchcrickets]

The Cards are very serious about putting him at 2B.  His bat will play very well there.

Look for him to get plenty of starts with danny d coming in as a late inning defensive replacement (assuming all goes well in ST).

[JFS171]

They've had experience doing this before, if you recall - Skip Shumaker was considered a longshot to convert, and the Cardinals rolled with him till he stopped hitting.

IMO, that's the key here.  If Carpenter hits at .290+ with a strong OBP and solid power production (15-20 HR power), they'll live with the defense, replacing him late in tight games with Descalso.

If he doesn't hit, it's likely a moot point anyway, as you wouldn't want him on your team.

I think he's an interesting guy to stash on your bench or at MI - strong AVG, some pop, excellent lineup, and Swiss Army knife versatility.

[crotchcrickets]

To add: news isnt good on Rafael Furcal, which may mean more playing time for Carp at 2B, with danny d and kozma rotating in and out of SS.

[bravesfan4life]

 crotchcrickets, on 20 February 2013 - 12:24 PM, said:

To add: news isnt good on Rafael Furcal, which may mean more playing time for Carp at 2B, with danny d and kozma rotating in and out of SS.

Cards signed Ronny Cedeno, he figures to get Furcal's at bats if he misses some time. Still like Carpenter though

[crotchcrickets]

Forgot about ronnie cedeno.  He should be no where near a major league diamond.

[iceboxxx]

 crotchcrickets, on 21 February 2013 - 09:12 AM, said:

Forgot about ronnie cedeno.  He should be no where near a major league diamond.

well...he could be an usher or the guy selling cotton candy

[2ndCitySox]

 iceboxxx, on 21 February 2013 - 04:14 PM, said:

 crotchcrickets, on 21 February 2013 - 09:12 AM, said:

Forgot about ronnie cedeno.  He should be no where near a major league diamond.

well...he could be an usher or the guy selling cotton candy

I don't trust his arm for the latter. As far as the former, he'd probably spend most of the game trying to escort the bronze statues outside the stadium to their seats

[Travis Burten]

This is someone you can get at the very end of your draft and have top 100 upside, especially at a weak position. Great lineup and the dude can hit.

[dorsett33]

Carpenter seems like a great guy to add or draft late given his ability to hit, get on base, and to top it all off his versatility.  Yahoo has him listed as 1b/3b/Of and he will soon gain 2b eligibility.  A total steal given his ADP.

[Petey Pop]

Realistically, what is this guys potential?

Although he doesn't look like he can hurt you anywhere, I don't like owning a player that has a low ceiling - albeit safe.

His numbers from last year don't necessarily wow me.

[footballer010]

 Petey Pop, on 14 March 2013 - 10:56 AM, said:

Realistically, what is this guys potential?

Although he doesn't look like he can hurt you anywhere, I don't like owning a player that has a low ceiling - albeit safe.

His numbers from last year don't necessarily wow me.

He's best reserved for 14+ team leagues or leagues with a MI, CI, xOF.

[crotchcrickets]

His numbers will make him a nice fantasy 2B.

Edited by crotchcrickets, 14 March 2013 - 11:33 AM.

[Caelum]

Not a high ceiling, so I'd only recommend if you wait until the end of the draft to pick up a MI (once he's eligible there), as I did in my first draft. As a Cards fan who sees him play a lot, if he gets 550 AB I'd be happy with something like 85 R, 15 HR, 75 RBI, .290 BA. His "ceiling" may be higher than that, but I think he's capable of those numbers (as I watch him hit a would-be single to center and turn it into a double as I type this). Not bad numbers for an end-of-draft, MI pickup. He's also batting second in the spring game today. If he does that in the regular season, hitting ahead of Holliday, Craig and Beltran, along with his decent OBP ability (.365 last year), that could boost his runs.

[Orion Braun]

 Caelum, on 14 March 2013 - 12:17 PM, said:

Not a high ceiling, so I'd only recommend if you wait until the end of the draft to pick up a MI (once he's eligible there), as I did in my first draft. As a Cards fan who sees him play a lot, if he gets 550 AB I'd be happy with something like 85 R, 15 HR, 75 RBI, .290 BA. His "ceiling" may be higher than that, but I think he's capable of those numbers (as I watch him hit a would-be single to center and turn it into a double as I type this). Not bad numbers for an end-of-draft, MI pickup. He's also batting second in the spring game today. If he does that in the regular season, hitting ahead of Holliday, Craig and Beltran, along with his decent OBP ability (.365 last year), that could boost his runs.

I think he's gonna have to show a lot to stick in the #2 spot. I think he starts at #7, with Kozma at 8.

Here a couple tweets from the past hour from Heyman:


@JonHeymanCBS
#STLCards r planning for pete kozma to be starting SS while descalso & matt carpenter r both playing well in 2B battle


@JonHeymanCBS
if anything, matt carpenter may have slight edge at 2B for #STLCards due to his bat. descalso will get games at 3B & SS

[Caelum]

For what it's worth, 118 of his 296 at-bats came in the No. 2 hole last year, and he hit .322 with a .385 OBP in that spot, so they obviously are comfortable with him there and have been hitting him there this spring. That's no guarantee it sticks of course, but if you can draft him in about the 25th round as a flier as I was able to do, it's a worthy gamble.

Here's a quote from a chat today from CBSsports' Scott White, from a question about late-round MI. Bolded emphasis by me.

Scott White:
"It's funny you mention Espinosa. This morning on the podcast, I said he was my fallback middle infielder until finding out just recently that Carpenter and Gyorko have all but locked up the starting second base job for their respective teams. Now, I'm passing on Espinosa for those two, even knowing they won't be eligible at middle infield to begin the season. I prefer Carpenter. I think he's a lock to be are Martin Prado-level contributor as a starter. Gyorko could potentially be better than that, but he's more of a gamble."

Edited by Caelum, 14 March 2013 - 01:15 PM.

[crotchcrickets]

Listening to game right now vs the Braves and Marp seems to look pretty good out there.