Kerry Carpenter is about to make his MLB debut.
The Detroit Tigers promoted Carpenter, who has 30 home runs in 97 games in the minor leagues this season, to the big leagues Tuesday night. The 24-year-old outfielder will start as the designated hitter Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park.
To make room for Carpenter on the 26-man roster, the Tigers optioned outfielder Daz Cameron to Triple-A Toledo. Before Wednesday’s game, the organization needs to determine a corresponding move on the 40-man roster.
Carpenter has played for Double-A Erie (63 games) and Triple-A Toledo (34 games) in 2022, batting .313 with 27 doubles, 30 homers, 75 RBIs, 33 walks and 89 strikeouts, as well as a 1.025 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
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For the Mud Hens, Carpenter has a .331 batting average with 11 doubles, eight homers, 27 RBIs, 17 walks and 17 strikeouts. He has a .420 on-base percentage, .644 slugging percentage and 1.064 OPS.
The biggest knock against Carpenter is his defense, which makes him a liability in the outfield.
As 39-year-old Miguel Cabrera’s lingering knee pain makes him unavailable on a day-to-day basis, Carpenter should receive plenty of plate appearances as the designated hitter while the Tigers discover whether he has an impact bat at the big-league level.
The Tigers promoted Carpenter from Erie to Toledo on June 25.
Carpenter earned Eastern League Player of the Month honors in May while playing for the SeaWolves.
He was drafted in the 19th round (No. 562 overall) in 2019 out of Virginia Tech.
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