It’s that time of the year. The newest Yankees veteran reclamation project is here and it’s Matt Carpenter. He’s off to a great start so far through 24 plate appearances, slashing .262/.417/.985 which is good enough for a 262 wRC+. Perhaps I undersold that a bit — he has been incredible with four home runs already and has had some great, extended at-bats in important moments. One of those moments came against the great Shohei Ohtani last week to lead off the game.
Ohtani’s first experience on the mound in the Bronx wasn’t so pleasant. Getting off to a good start would have been very nice, but Matt Carpenter had other plans …
A nice take to start the game.