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Detroit Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter has been having hamstring issues since last season, and the team finally decided to place him on the IL on Monday. There have been times when the issue is really acting up and Carpenter can barely run, and there are other times where it doesn't look too bad. On Sunday night, however, it looked like it got worse when Carpenter legged out a triple. He is going on the IL, and Trey Sweeney is coming back up to Detroit.
“AJ Hinch just told us they are being conservative with Kerry Carpenter and putting him on the IL with his hammy issue and calling up Trey Sweeney again #tigers,” Jim Duquette said in a post.
This is unfortunate timing as it looked like Kerry Carpenter was finally starting to break out of a slump. He didn't have a great June, but he really turned it on during the final week. In the last seven days, Carpenter went 6-13 at the plate with three home runs and 10 RBIs. That certainly isn't a slump. Carpenter was looking great at the plate, but it won't be easy to keep that going after this missed time.
“It feels similar to the last time I had a little issue with it,” Carpenter said on Sunday, according to a post from Cody Stavehagen. “The staff here has done a great job of getting me back pretty quickly. We’ll see how it goes, but I think we’re all pretty optimistic about it.”
Carpenter likely won't make a return to the lineup until after the All-Star break, which is less than two weeks away. The Tigers play their final game before the break on July 13th against the Seattle Mariners.
While Carpenter is out, Trey Sweeney will be back up with the Tigers. Sweeney has struggled so far this season and he was recently sent down, but his time in the minors was short-lived as he is now making a return to Detroit. Sweeney has a lot of potential, but he has made too many mistakes this season — both in the field and at the plate.
The Tigers are losing one of their best players for a little bit, but the team is in a great spot with the All-Star break looming. Detroit is currently an MLB-best 53-32, and the AL Central lead is growing by the day. The Tigers are 11.5 games ahead of the second place Cleveland Guardians.
Detroit will return to action on Wednesday to begin a series on the road against the Washington Nationals. The two teams were supposed to play on Tuesday night, but they will now play a double-header on Wednesday because of inclement weather in Tuesday's forecast. The series finale will be on Thursday.
