CLEVELAND — The Detroit Tigers are hoping slugger Kerry Carpenter can come off the bench in Saturday’s decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Guardians despite dealing with a hamstring injury.
Carpenter was injured while running the bases in Game 4 on Thursday night.
The quick turnaround — and MLB’s decision to move the starting time up seven hours, citing a chance of inclement weather — didn’t give him much recovery time.
But manager A.J. Hinch said Carpenter took batting practice Friday and was feeling better. Hinch said Carpenter will go through a full pregame workout before the team makes a decision on whether he can play.
“He’s sore and he’s dealing with some discomfort and not feeling 100%, but he’s also feeling some adrenaline for Game 5 in the ALDS,” Hinch said. “So that’s a good counter to not feeling at your best, and hopefully that adrenaline and that excitement will override the issues that he’s dealing with.
“He was happy with how he hit. I was happy with how he hit. Our hitting guys felt like he was taking full swings. And this morning when he woke up, he was on the early bus and was in great spirits. So when I saw the big smile, I got more and more optimistic that we were going to get good news.”
Carpenter came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of Game 2 and in his second at-bat hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase as the Tigers won 3-0 to even the series.
The Tigers need Carpenter’s power. He had 18 homers this season despite playing in just 87 games because of a lower back stress fracture that sidelined him from May 26 to Aug. 13.
With the Guardians starting left-hander Matthew Boyd for Game 5, Carpenter, who bats from the left, probably wouldn’t have started anyway. He began on the bench when Boyd started Game 2.