SEATTLE — Matt Carpenter‘s dream comeback season with the New York Yankees might need come to an early finish Monday night time.
Carpenter, 36, broke his left foot when he fouled off an 89 mph slider from Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert within the first inning. He will likely be out indefinitely.
After hobbling in ache, Carpenter was briefly checked by supervisor Aaron Boone however completed the at-bat and struck out swinging on the following pitch. He stated he knew one thing was unsuitable however thought he may end the at-bat and drive in a run.
“When I went to swing on the next pitch, as soon as I started to plant and rotate on that back foot, my lower body like gave out and I wasn’t able to,” Carpenter defined. “Thankfully, probably the best thing that happened was to swing and miss — because if I hit it and had to run, I might have made it worse. But I knew it wasn’t good.”
Carpenter, carrying a protecting boot within the Yankees’ clubhouse after the sport, stated he’s hopeful he may solely miss a month. But a timeline will not be decided till he sees a foot specialist.
“I don’t want to say a number because I just don’t know, but I’m holding out hope that it’ll be a situation where I could come back in the middle of September and can contribute towards a stretch run,” Carpenter said. “So we’ll see. I imply, that is my mindset is that I’ll be again.”
Boone stated he was instantly conscious one thing was unsuitable and realized a change was wanted when he checked on Carpenter within the clubhouse between innings.
“I knew he got it good. That’s why I went out there initially,” Boone said. “And I used to be identical to, the best way he was shifting, I’m like, this is not good.”
Tim Locastro replaced Carpenter at DH in the third inning. The Yankees went on to beat the Mariners 9-4, snapping a season-worst five-game losing streak.
“I’ve little question in my thoughts that [Carpenter] goes to nonetheless make an influence on this workforce even whereas he is damage,” stated Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, who threw seven innings to get the win. “He’s come in here right away and made an impact on a lot of people. He’s not afraid to talk pitching with the pitchers. He’s not afraid to give honest feedback. He’s one of the best guys that I’ve been around and played with, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way back and makes an impact.”
A front-runner for American League Comeback Player of the Year, Carpenter is batting .305 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in just 128 at-bats for New York this season, and he had reached base in 27 of his 35 starts. Last month, he batted .356 in 73 at-bats.
All this came after hitting seven home runs in 418 plate appearances over the previous two seasons.
The Texas native signed with the Yankees in May after he was released by the Rangers, for whom he spent the first month and a half of the season toiling at Triple-A.
Since debuting with the Yankees on May 26, Carpenter has a .727 slugging percentage, the best in MLB during that span (minimum of 100 plate appearances). New York has averaged 6.5 runs per game with Carpenter in the lineup and 4.8 runs without him.
“He’s positively going to be missed for nevertheless lengthy it should be, however we’re hoping that we get some excellent news and that it is not going to be season-ending,” Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson said.
Carpenter entered Monday night’s game following an emotional series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with which he spent the first 11 years of his career. Carpenter received a lengthy standing ovation prior to his first at-bat and went 2-for-12 in the series at St. Louis.
His is the latest significant injury for the Yankees. All-Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton and pitchers Luis Severino, Michael King and Miguel Castro all went down damage final month, and so they have not returned.
King will miss the remainder of the season with a damaged proper elbow, whereas Severino (proper lat pressure) and Castro (proper shoulder pressure) are additionally on the 60-day injured checklist. Stanton is on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 24, due to left Achilles tendinitis.
New York has the very best report within the AL at 71-39 and leads the AL East by 10½ video games.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
