Detroit Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter, one of the team’s promising young hitters, exited Thursday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles in the top of the sixth inning with a right shoulder injury.
The severity and specifics of the injury are unclear.
“No update,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after Thursday’s 7-4 loss. “He’s going to get a scan and get looked at. We’ll get it read by the doctors and see how sore he is or what the diagnosis is.”
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Carpenter, 25, injured his shoulder while playing defense. He crashed into the right-field wall while robbing Ryan Mountcastle of a home run. After throwing the ball, Carpenter immediately reached for his shoulder and stayed down on the field in front of the warning track.
“It was on the throw,” Hinch said. “It wasn’t on the collision with the wall.”
An athletic trainer evaluated Carpenter in the outfield.
Then Carpenter walked off the field. Tyler Nevin replaced Carpenter as the No. 5 hitter in the lineup and took over at third base. Zach McKinstry switched from third base to right field.
“We were down Javy (Báez) already,” Hinch said. “When Carp gets hurt, we’re just trying to keep as many involved in the game. … Our guys can play anywhere, and certainly, they needed to tonight.”
Carpenter, a left-handed hitting slugger, entered Thursday hitting .197 with four home runs, five walks and 21 strikeouts in 19 games. He has played 51 games in his MLB career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.