LAKELAND, Fla. — One year later. One amazing, magical year. Everything is so different for Kerry Carpenter.
On Friday morning, Carpenter walked into the Detroit Tigers facility, using the MLB entrance, not the side one reserved for minor leaguers — OK, that was different for him.
Then, he walked into the Tigers clubhouse — “I haven’t been in this locker room too much,” he told Andre Lipcius.
Sporting an Arizona tan, Carpenter flashed a smile and hugged Miguel Cabrera — OK, that moment, he would say, was, well, “surreal.”
“Everything kinda hit me,” Carpenter said Friday morning, standing in the Tigers clubhouse. “I was walking in a different entrance, walking in a different locker room, and Miggy greeted me — it’s pretty surreal.”
Yes, surreal. And magical. And one of those baseball stories that should be turned into a Disney movie.
Thirteen months ago, Carpenter was a struggling minor leaguer. He wasn’t even considered one of the Tigers’ elite prospects. He was not listed in the top 30 by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline. He was floating under the radar — a 19th-round pick willing to try anything to resurrect his career.
The rest has been well documented. He went to Richard Schenck, a hitting guru who works with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Carpenter made changes to his swing, started hitting homers at a ridiculous rate, soared through the minor leagues and wound up in Detroit.
FROM LAST YEAR:How a little-known Tigers prospect unlocked power for best season in all of minors
Now, he has his own locker in the Tigers clubhouse against the same wall as Cabrera. And he’s got a legit chance to make this team.
“It’s exciting,” Carpenter said. “Yeah, it’s a special feeling but I feel ready.”
Giving his jersey number back to a returning veteran
As Carpenter moved into his new locker, putting away his bats and straightening his Tigers practice shirts, there was something interesting on the top shelf. A Shinola box.
And a Shinola bag was left in front of his locker.
They were gifts from Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd because Carpenter agreed to give up No. 48, giving it back to Boyd.
“I was like, ‘Dude, you’ve earned that number, man,’ ” Carpenter said. “ ‘That’s all you.’ ”
Now, Carpenter will wear No. 30 — one of several options he was given.
“We got Harold (Castro),” he said. “We got Magglio (Ordoñez). We got we got some history with it. So, I’m excited.”
As Carpenter was moving into his locker — he kept getting interrupted by other players and Tigers employees, everyone seemed so genuinely happy to see him — Boyd walked over to Carpenter and gave him a bro hug, slapping his chest.
“He’s a good guy,” Boyd said. “We bumped into each other in Arizona.”
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Tigers collaborating with Carpenter’s hitting guru
Carpenter spent the offseason training in Arizona, and he worked with Schenck for four full days.
He also worked with Michael Brdar and Keith Beauregard, the Tigers’ new hitting coaches.
“They came out to Arizona State for a couple of weeks straight,” Carpenter said. “So, they were just throwing us BP, talking and getting to know each other. It was great.”
Then, Beauregard did something else. Something significant and telling. He contacted Schenck, so they could all get on the same page, speaking the same language.
“Keith actually asked me for Rich’s number, so he could learn what to say, what to help me with, so it actually meant a lot to me that they did that,” Carpenter said. “They just want to help, so it’s a good feeling.”
That collaboration is by design. Perhaps it wouldn’t have happened years ago. But it’s a sign of how this organization understands that this is a new time.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch assumes every player has a private instructor.
“Whether it’s a father, a brother, a friend, a high school coach, a college coach, or someone higher,” Hinch said. “No longer are the days that we are the only voice in their ear. … Agencies have done a good job of providing a lot of resources for players. So, as an organization, we can either accept it and also team up with them to get the best out of the player, or we can fight it and create more havoc for the player. You could probably assume what we’re gonna do.”
Collaborate.
MORE FROM SEIDEL:Kerry Carpenter’s Tigers path paved by lessons from Aaron Judge and Manny Ramirez
Started where he left off
Carpenter is in such a different place. Suddenly, he is no longer fighting to be noticed. He is fighting to make this team.
“This will be the first time there’s pressure on him in camp as a player returning after having played in the big leagues, gotten a little bit of feedback, had some success, also had some stretches where he struggled,” Hinch said.
He’ll play both right and left field this spring as he fights for a job.
“I just feel confident,” Carpenter said. “I love the competition. Nothing has ever really been handed to me. So I love having to earn it. I think I should have to earn it.”
Carpenter prepared for spring training by hitting off live pitching
“Live at-bats are the thing that gets me most ready and I’ve gotten a ton of them, so I feel comfortable,” he said. “I got a couple (Thursday) and I felt comfortable in the box.”
But he was facing a machine on Friday at TigerTown, a short time after he arrived.
At the end of one session, Carpenter crushed a homer to right-center. As the ball was still climbing, he turned and bounded out of the cage. Didn’t even watch it soar over the fence.
There was no surprise. It was like he expected it. He just looked so comfortable and relaxed.
And confident.
He flashed a smile, his joy infectious. That might be the only part that hasn’t changed.
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Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.
To read Seidel’s recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.