New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed an exciting injury update on Matt Carpenter, per Yankees reporter Bryan Hoch.

“Matt Carpenter could take live at-bats this coming week with Somerset rather than fly with the Yankees to Texas, Aaron Boone said. That would give him more reps to be ready for the ALDS.”

Yankees fans feared the worst when Carpenter went down with a foot injury in early August. But Matt Carpenter never lost hope of returning at some point. Even after the initial diagnosis, he declared that he would return later in the season.

“This won’t be the end of me this year,” Carpenter at in August. “I don’t want to say a number because I just don’t know, but I’m holding out hope that it’ll be a situation where I could come back in the middle of September and can contribute towards a stretch run.”

Matt Carpenter was slashing .305/.412/.727 with an OPS of over 1.100 and 15 home runs. It was a resurgent performance for the veteran after fizzling out in St. Louis with the Cardinals in 2021. He had hit under .200 with the Cardinals and many people around the league felt as if he was headed towards retirement. But his 2022 performance made it clear that he has plenty left in the tank.

There is no question that his return would benefit the Yankees in the playoffs. Hoch later shared an encouraging video on his Twitter of Matt Carpenter preparing to take batting practice.

Matt Carpenter could be the Yankees' X-Factor in the MLB playoffs.