Kerry William Carpenter (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Carpenter attended

Eustis High School Eustis High School is the local high school for the city of Eustis, Florida, United States. Located at 1300 E Washington Ave Eustis, FL 32726. Athletic teams are the Panthers. The school is a member of the Lake County Schools district. Campu ...

in Eustis, Florida, where he batted .463 with three home runs as a senior in 2016. After graduating, he enrolled at St. Johns River State College where he played two years of college baseball, before transferring to Virginia Tech to play for the Virginia Tech Hokies for the 2019 season. In his year with Virginia Tech, he started 53 games, and hit .272 with ten home runs and 45 RBI.

Professional career

Carpenter was drafted by the

in the 19th round, with the 562nd overall selection, of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. Carpenter signed with the Tigers and split his first professional season between the rookie–level Gulf Coast League Tigers and Low–A Connecticut Tigers, batting .303 with nine home runs and 35 RBI over 47 games. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carpenter spent 2021 with the Double–A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

and hit .262 with 15 home runs, 74 RBI, and 24 doubles over 112 games. He returned to Erie to open the 2022 season. He was named Eastern League Player of the Month for May. After batting .304 with 22 home runs and 48 RBI over 63 games with Erie, he was promoted to the Triple–A Toledo Mud Hens in late June. On August 10, 2022, the Tigers selected Carpenter's contract and added him to the Major League roster. He made his MLB debut the same day as Detroit's starting designated hitter, going hitless over four

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s. He collected his first MLB hit on August 14, a single versus the Chicago White Sox. Carpenter hit his first MLB home run on August 15 off of

Eli Morgan Elijah Allan Morgan (born May 13, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Morgan was selected by the Indians in the eigh ...

of the Cleveland Guardians. For the 2023 season, Carpenter played in 118 games, batting .278 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI. Carpenter began the 2024 campaign with Detroit, hitting .283 with eight home runs and 29 RBI across 50 games. He was placed on the injured list with

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means ''of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum.'' The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an area of the back i ...

spine inflammation on May 29, 2024. Carpenter was transferred to the 60–day injured list on July 21. He was activated on August 13. In his return Carpenter hit two home runs against the Seattle Mariners. On October 7, in Game 2 of the 2024 American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Carpenter hit a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning off of Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, who only gave up 2 home runs in 74.1 innings, breaking a 0–0 tie and leading to a 3-0 Tigers win.

Personal life

Carpenter is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. He has said, “My goal, basically, is to just be as great as I possibly can be, to reach my full potential. And I personally believe the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ. That’s the foundation. That’s the rock. He’ll guide me and lead me wherever, but that’s kind of the way I think I can honor Him through this sport that I play.”. Carpenter got engaged to girlfriend, softball player Lauren Burke, in December 2023.

References

External links

Virginia Tech Hokies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Kerry 1997 births Living people People from Eustis, Florida Baseball players from Lake County, Florida Major League Baseball outfielders Detroit Tigers players Virginia Tech Hokies baseball players St. Johns River State Vikings baseball players Gulf Coast Tigers players Connecticut Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Toledo Mud Hens players