Carpenter continues to lead the National League with 35 home runs, though he’s yet to hit his first of September. His league-leading .966 OPS has slipped back to .916 in the past 19 days, and he entered a late pinch-hit appearance Wednesday hitless in his past 16 at-bats with eight strikeouts. In September, he has more strikeouts (22) than hits (10) and has slugged .203. Four of his eight games this season with at least three strikeouts have come since Aug. 22. Six days before that, he was hit on the right hand by a pitch.
What Shildt has been aware of is how teams are skirting around Carpenter, and how to organize the lineup to make that more difficult.