Defense And Bunts for Carpenter

(Jupiter, FL) Back in the starting lineup today, Matt Carpenter didn’t swing the bat, but still managed to pick up a base hit as he dropped down a bunt to beat the shift.

Sharing that he was basically cleared to return to swinging today, Carpenter is still in a holding pattern before letting loose at the plate.

“I don’t feel the real need to rush myself,” he explained. “We’re going to hit on Monday in the cage, then re-evaluate that day and then hopefully be in games by the weekend.”

But with first base still being a newer position for him, Carpenter approached Mike Matheny about getting some defensive work during games.

“Yeah, I want to keep continuing to get that work in,” said Carpenter. “We thought this was a good opportunity to do it–and the other part is, I just want to be involved. I hate sitting around. For the most part, I feel really good. The only thing I feel it is swinging and even then, I think I’m pretty close. It was good to get to be a part of it today.”

After taking the weekend off, Carpenter had resumed hitting off of the tees on Monday.

“I was swinging at 100%, I just didn’t like the way it felt,” he explained of the prior discomfort. “It felt like there was a little something. That was the reason for taking myself out of the Classic because I felt like I was going to continue to tear and wear on it. That’s why we decided to just shut it down, there’s no purpose for pushing through some pain right now in Spring Training. That was kind of the mindset.”

“Yeah, just the uncomfortable–just the tightness, that feeling during those swings. That was the reason for the back up.”

“There’s nothing I can do to recreate any kind of feeling on the baseball field minus taking a full swing,” said Carpenter. “Lifting, running, running the bases, playing defense, throwing, all that stuff. It’s a real minor thing that I’m dealing with, but it was enough to be proactive about.”

This plan of defense only might happen again before Monday–including laying down a bunt.

“Honestly, though, what it opens our eyes to is having the ability to do that with two strikes,” pointed out Carpenter. “It’s there if you’re willing to take it. Obviously, the risk is if you bunt and miss you strike out, but you can swing and miss and strikeout too. It’s something we all think about, just nobody does it.”

This season, Carpenter is expected to bat third in the Cardinals lineup which could affect how teams use the shift against him.

“I think there will be more–they shifted me in the lead-off spot, but they had to respect the bunt at least for the first pitch, first couple strikes,” he said. “But I could see them being less worried about that until I start doing it. The best way to beat the shift is to do that. You put the thought in the back of their head and they might have to make an adjustment.”

And moving down in the order won’t prevent Carpenter from dropping down the bunt.

“If it’s there, I’m going to take it–I’ve always been that way. I just think that’s good baseball.”

photo credit: STLBaseballWeekly.com