Matt Carpenter is back with the St. Louis Cardinals, and he's hoping to play a role in helping them turn things around after a horrific 2023 campaign. While Carpenter had only been gone for two years, it's clear he's happy to be back with St. Louis. And as it turns out, he would have rather never left them in the first place.
Carpenter turned himself into a key piece of the Cardinals during the 2010s, earning three All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger award in 2013. However, by the time 2021 rolled around, Carpenter's role with the team was much smaller, and while he knew his time with the team was coming to an end, he was upset that he wasn't going to be able to spend his entire career in St. Louis.
“Back then, I could see the writing on the wall for my time here. Look, in my eyes, I had dreams of running the table in St. Louis — playing my whole career here, finishing on a good note, playing out that contract, positively. Even performing well enough to continue. And then it just did not happen. There was a lot of sadness, a lot of hurt, a lot of disappointment. I gave it everything I had…Time heals lots of different things.” – Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Matt Carpenter still has something left in the tank for Cardinals
With Tommy Edman taking over at second base and Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado being at first and third base respectively, there wasn't a spot left for Carpenter on the Cardinals roster after the 2021 campaign. That ensuing offseason, the front office declined his option, and he ended up signing a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in free agency.
Carpenter was released by the Rangers, but he was eventually signed by the New York Yankees, where he was excellent over 47 regular season games (.305 BA, 15 HR, 37 RBI, 1.138 OPS) before he suffered a broken left foot after fouling a ball off of it. In 2023, Carpenter played with the San Diego Padres, but he didn't come close to matching his production from the year before (.176 BA, 5 HR, 31 RBI, .641 OPS).
Now, Carpenter returns to where it all started and will act as a veteran leader while filling in a utility role off the bench. It will be nice to see Carpenter back in action for the Cardinals, but chances are he won't be producing at the level fans were once accustomed to seeing, or even what he managed to do in his short stint for the Yankees.
Having these sorts of veterans in the locker room is crucial, and Carpenter knows what it takes to win in St. Louis, even though he wasn't technically a part of their 2011 World Series squad. It's a shame that Carpenter won't spend his entire career with the Cardinals, but he's back now, and if everything goes according to plan, they could be a dark horse World Series contender out in the National League this year.
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