After ending the 2016 season on a lower note than most expected, what can fans expect from Matt Carpenter in 2017?
Carpenter, who just turned 31 at the end of November, was off to a pretty good start for the 2016 season until he strained his right oblique during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in July. This injury came with some time off and continued to impact his return later on in the season. He ended the season batting .271, about the same as his previous season, having batted .272. His performance leading up to the injury, however, had led people to believe he would have ended the season with a career high batting average.He did not put up bad numbers, they just were not as high as people thought they were going to be.
With Carpenter having just been named to represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic, one has to wonder whether Carpenter is going to perform as well as he had been before his injury.
His last few seasons have shown him to be pretty versatile player. Last season, he moved around the infield quite a bit and played 54 games at third base, 45 games at first base and 40 games at second base. He shelled out good numbers at all of those positions, with fielding percentages of .935, .997 and .976 respectively. He was just named the starting first baseman for the upcoming 2017 season, displacing Matt Adams.
Next season will bring him a new permanent position, but where does he stand in the batting order? Previously, he had held the leadoff spot, though the addition of OF Dexter Fowler is expecting to leave him batting third, behind Fowler and SS Aledmys Diaz. Fans will be eagerly waiting to see what Carpenter does with this new spot, before OF Stephen Piscotty comes up to bat cleanup. The Cardinals do not seem to be making moves toward signing another big hitter, so this lineup is going to have to perform well.
In conclusion, we can expect to see Matt Carpenter at first base and batting third in the lineup. Time will tell whether this offseason is giving him enough time to prepare to make 2017 his best season yet.
