Lakeland, Fla. — They call him Bonds. Kerry Bonds.
OK, not everybody does. But his teammates do. And in his second at-bat in the Tigers’ 4-3 spring loss to the Yankees Friday, Tigers’ outfielder Kerry Carpenter showed why.
He slugged a 96.5 mph fastball on an 0-2 count from Yankees starter Luis Severino and hit it not just over the wall in right field, but over the Margaritaville porch and off the wall of the administrative building.
“Wall-scraper,” joked Spencer Turnbull, who made his second start of the spring and was dominant for two innings before faltering slightly in the third.
The distance of the blast was not recorded by Statcast but it traveled at least 400 feet.
“A two-strike homer to the pull-side, off the building?” manager AJ Hinch said. “Nice.”
The distance, though, Bondsian as it was, was only the exclamation point. The drama was in the journey Carpenter took to get to that majestic swing. Because for four of the five pitches in the at-bat, Carpenter looked dead in the water.
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“Yeah, I was fighting,” he said. “I was seeing it decently after I chased that changeup. He buried a couple and I was able to foul them off.”
Carpenter took a slider for called strike one and then chased the changeup to fall into a fast two-strike hole. Both pitches were on the outside part of the plate, which was clearly Severino’s plan. The first four pitches were away from the left-handed hitting Carpenter.
He fouled off an 86-mph changeup that was well below the strike zone and then barely fouled off 96.7-mph four-seamer that Severino painted on the outside edge.
Somehow, on the fifth pitch, Carpenter was able to turn-and-burn on a 96.5-mph heater that was up and in, and according to Statcast, off the plate inside.
“I just never like to come off the heater,” Carpenter said. “Especially against a guy who likes his heater and has a really good one. I always like to stay on it and trust that if he throws something else I can stay on that, too. But I like to stay on top of the heater.”
That he was on time for the pitch after seeing four pitches away was impressive. That he was able to whip his hands and get the barrel to it was mind-blowing.
“Usually it doesn’t really matter where they throw it,” he said. “I have an idea of where they want to go. But I like to be on time for the fastest pitch they can throw and usually that’s inside.”
Carpenter, who is hitting .211 this spring with two home runs, hit six home runs last season in 31 games, that after banging 30 homers between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.
“It’s been feeling good the last couple of weeks,” Carpenter said. “I’ve been hitting a lot of balls on the barrel, but a lot on the ground and a lot up in the air (pop ups). I’ve been feeling fine but to get one that comes off nicely like that, felt pretty good.”
Carpenter is in a major fight to win a roster spot as an extra outfielder and designated hitter, essentially battling left-handed hitting Akil Baddoo for the last outfield spot.
With Riley Greene in center and Austin Meadows in right, both of whom bat left-handed, the odds against the Tigers keeping both Baddoo and Carpenter – and thus four left-handed hitting outfielders — are long.
And for Carpenter, the power bat is his leverage.
“I know you guys are tired of hearing me say this, but when he stays in the strike zone, he can do a lot of damage,” Hinch said. “We saw his chase today and we saw him stay in the zone. We saw one good result and one bad result. When he stays in the zone, we know the damage he can do.”
Turnbull, Step two
Turnbull set down the first six Yankees hitters in 27 pitches, with three strikeouts. He came in on a mission to tighten up his slider, the only pitch he didn’t like in his first successful outing and retired the first three hitters with it – striking out DJ LeMahieu swinging at it and Aaron Hicks looking at it.
“Much tighter,” Turnbull said. “That’s what I want. I found it this week in my bullpen session.”
Turnbull said he made a slight adjustment with his hips and his load and got the feel and the shape he was searching for.
“It took a minute to figure out what it was,” he said. “Once we did, though, the consistency is back where I wanted.”
He had battle fatigue and a tight strike zone by home plate umpire Mark Wegner in the third inning. He ended up walking No. 8 hitter Carlos Narvaez and then, after a passed ball charged to catcher Eric Haase, he gave up an RBI single to No. 9 hitter Billy McKinney.
“I was a little frustrated on a couple of calls, but he was probably right,” Turnbull said. “Mark’s got a really good strike zone. I thought a couple might’ve clipped the zone, but I really don’t need to be that fine (with his location) anyway. I don’t need to be on the edges. So that’s on me.”
Hinch bounced out of the dugout to get Turnbull after the McKinney single. He was at 45 pitches. While they waited for reliever Kervin Castro to enter, Hinch had a chat with Turnbull on the mound.
“He asked me what I was thinking, what was going through my head (in the McKinney at-bat),” Turnbull said. “I was frustrated because I was thinking about the results and he was like, ‘No. I want you to focus on the process and being aggressive and throwing your best pitch. Not worrying about what happens.’”
Turnbull fell behind McKinney 3-0 and then after two fastballs, threw another slider that McKinney banged into center field.
“I can’t be worried about throwing ball-four,” Turnbull said. “That’s what got me on that last one. I was too results-focused on that 3-2 slider. I wasn’t really convicted with it. I was still a little frustrated and I was probably thinking, ‘Don’t walk him,’ instead of just throwing my best slider.
“Honestly, a walk there wouldn’t have hurt me too bad anyway. There would just be two guys on and no run in. As soon as I start getting into a negative what-can-go-wrong mindset, that’s when things start to go wrong quick.”
The fatigue, the situational pitching, the in-game mental adjustments – plus the 95-mph heater, the sharp slider, landing his curveball and changeup – these were all positive hurdles Turnbull needs to clear as he works himself back to form after missing 21 months recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“Very pleased,” Hinch said. “He was tired at the end, which he should be. We’ve got to get him through these thresholds. It was a really good day.”
Game Bits
…Lefty Joey Wentz, who piggy-backed off Turnbull’s start, threw 56 pitches in 2.2 innings, the only damage a two-run homer by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. But he did some impressive work. He had six strikeouts, getting 12 swings-and-misses on 23 swings with 10 called strikes. His cutter was especially effective (eight whiffs on 16 swings with five called strikes).
…The Tigers got homers from two catchers. Eric Haase blasted his third homer, a 372-footer onto the berm in left. Andrew Knapp won the day, though, sending one off the batter’s eye in dead center – 439 feet.
…Veteran lefty Jace Fry kept himself in the bullpen fight, striking out the side in the eighth inning. He threw four swings and misses on four swings with his cutter.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky