LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers, barring an injury or an unforeseen construction of the Opening Day roster, will pick between two left-handed hitters for their final outfield spot: Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo.
It’s a battle of power vs. speed.
The Tigers already have three outfielders locked in: Riley Greene (left-handed hitter), Austin Meadows (left-handed hitter) and Matt Vierling (right-handed hitter). Carrying five outfielders to keep both Carpenter and Baddoo on the roster doesn’t make sense as long as Miguel Cabrera is serving as a part-time designated hitter.
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“This is a horrible week for players,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s not fun when you’re on the bubble. It’s not fun when you’re uncertain whether you can settle in and prepare for a major-league season, or whether you’re going to have a meeting with me and talk about a different outcome. Everybody that’s still in camp is aware of their situation. It’s kind of the unspoken, but they’ve handled it great.”
In the end, the decision might not even come down to their performances, but instead, their need to develop: The Tigers might want Carpenter to play every day, even if that’s in Triple-A Toledo, because his power allows him to profile as a potential long-term everyday player, whereas Baddoo is approaching 700 plate appearances in the big leagues and profiles as a useful bench player in controlled environments.
From that perspective, Baddoo would head to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, while Carpenter would head to Toledo’s Fifth Third Field. But there are many ways to evaluate those players.
Ultimately, the decision comes down to Hinch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris. There are four days until the end of spring training and nine days until the Tigers start the 162-game schedule against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I know it’s tough to not know exactly what we’re going to do for them,” Hinch said. “At the same time, we’ve got plenty of time.”
The case for Baddoo
The Tigers selected Baddoo, a second-round pick in 2016, in the 2020 Rule 5 draft from the Minnesota Twins. For the Tigers to keep him, he needed to stay on the 26-man roster for the entire 2021 season.
From April 4 through July 28, Baddoo hit .275 with 10 home runs and a .844 OPS over his first 82 MLB games. Since July 29, 2021, however, he owns a .216 batting average with five homers and a .591 OPS in 115 regular-season games.
“Baseball is a game of failure,” Baddoo said. “You learn each and every day. You learn from it, go in the cage and keep working. Just keep working and stick with my abilities and strengths.”
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On offense, it has been a while since the 24-year-old was a consistent above-average player. After a hot start, he began selling out for power and stopped capitalizing on his strengths.
When Baddoo gets on base, he can change the game with his electrifying speed. It’s easily his best attribute. He collected 18 steals in 22 attempts in 2021, then nine steals in 15 attempts in 2022. The Tigers want to get back to taking risks on the bases this season, which fits into Baddoo’s style.
“We’d like to see competitive at-bats where he puts the ball in play a little bit more,” Hinch said. “He’s had a lot of punchouts. But he’s pretty dynamic on the bases. His defense has been really, really good. We’ve seen a lot of progress with that.”
Baddoo, who struggles against left-handed pitchers, put his strengths on display in Triple-A Toledo last season following a demotion in May 2022. He hit .300 with three home runs, 19 walks and 26 strikeouts. His 14.5% walk rate and 19.8% strikeout rate — compared to 10.7% and 28.4%, respectively, in the majors — showed his potential for dominating the strike zone.
He also stole seven bases in 11 attempts.
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This spring, Baddoo has a .237 batting average with two homers, three walks and 12 strikeouts in 41 plate appearances across 15 games. He said he didn’t make any mechanical adjustments to his swing in the offseason.
“It’s not the result,” Baddoo said. “It’s more my feeling. As long as I’m feeling good at the plate, that’s all I really care about right now. My main goal is to put good swings on pitches and control the strike zone. That’s what I like. I like the walk against the lefty (pitcher) just as much as when I hit the ball over the fence.”
The case for Carpenter
The Tigers selected Carpenter in the 19th round of the 2019 draft out of Virginia Tech, and three years later, he put himself on the map by crushing 30 home runs in the minor leagues to earn a big-league promotion, followed by six homers with the Tigers.
In 2022, Carpenter hit .313 with 30 homers, 33 walks (8.3% walk rate) and 89 strikeouts (22.3% strikeout rate) with Double-A Erie (63 games) and Triple-A Toledo (35 games).
The Tigers called him up Aug. 10.
“What I want to do is challenge myself at the highest level and help this team win at the highest level,” Carpenter said. “It would be huge for me (to make the team out of spring training).”
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Carpenter, who doesn’t steal bases, played 31 games for the Tigers and hit .252 with six homers, six walks (5.3% walk rate) and 32 strikeouts (28.3% strikeout rate). In all, he hit .297 against right-handed pitchers and .308 against lefties.
The 25-year-old chases too many pitches outside the strike zone, which means he doesn’t dominate the strike zone. His defense isn’t as poor as some believe, and he certainly isn’t a liability in the outfield, but he lacks athleticism.
Still, his power is real.
“I’m coming here and doing my job, and my job is to hit,” Carpenter said. “Whether it’s the first game we play or the last (game) in spring training, it’s the same for me. It’s just getting in more of a rhythm now.”
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In spring training, Carpenter has a .293 batting average with three homers, two walks and 11 strikeouts in 41 plate appearances across 17 games. Improving his swing decisions will translate to more walks.
“Probably chasing a little more than I wanted to,” Carpenter said. “That’s something I’ve worked on a lot because I’m an aggressive hitter, and maybe some of the pitchers take advantage of that, especially at this level. … It’s something I’m working on. It’s not fully there yet, but it’s coming.”
To get there, Carpenter needs as many reps as possible.
“See pitches and figure out an approach that works,” Carpenter said, “like where I need to look for the ball and what pitches I need to look for, and sticking to it. Trusting it is really a big thing.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.