Heading into the 2021 season, the Cardinals hoped that Matt Carpenter could be their do-it-all left-handed hitter off the bench. He was the presumptive starter at 3b before Nolan Arenado arrived. Then, he was shifted to second where he would split time with the defensively versatile Tommy Edman. The hope was that he would recover enough of his old offensive form to be a valuable contributor as a platoon player. If nothing else, at least Carpenter would provide some pop and the ability to draw walks in a pinch-hitting role.
That didn’t work out so well. Carpenter’s bat did the opposite of bounce back and that pretty much negated any value he could provide by his handedness and his defensive versatility.