Matt Carpenter's Future

[lukethedrifter]

We pretty much dominate the 13th round of the draft.

pre Marp
http://www.athlonsports.com/mlb/13th-ro ... not-so-bad

[Bo Hart]

Carpenter has been great, and I hope he remains the 2B starter all season. Maybe even for years to come. I've always been excited about the guy, because he always posted such a gaudy OBP in the minors.

However, there is absolutely no way the defensive numbers he's putting up are accurate. He has a 1.8 WAR on the season, with .5 (~30%) of that coming from his fielding; I think small sample size defensive metrics are inflating his WAR total (what else is new?). At 3B and 2B combined, he's on pace for like 25-30 defensive runs saved. Yeah, sure.

In 2009, Colby -- during his first full year with the Cardinals -- posted great defensive numbers: he rated at 9.3 UZR in 900-some innings in CF. It looked like he was going to be a defensive asset. Over his next 3500 innings, his combined UZR was -14.1. His career total is -4.8.

Anyway, the point is... take his WAR total with a grain salt. Take everyone's WAR total with a grain of salt for that matter, especially if they are getting large bonuses/penalties from defense.

EDIT: even without the defensive totals, Carpenter is still having a great year. I'm not denying that at all. But I don't think he's in the conversation for "best 2B in the game" unless you take those defensive metrics seriously and believe that they they can be extrapolated out over a full year.

[Felix The Cat]

A day late on this so apologies if this has already been posted:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/ ... nsung-hero

Since 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a Carpenter to lead them. It's been Chris Carpenter for years, but now Matt Carpenter has emerged as the team's leading man -- both figuratively and, as leadoff hitter, literally.

Entering Tuesday's action, Matt Carpenter (no immediate relation to Chris, who has compiled 27.3 career Wins Above Replacement with the Cardinals) leads all National League second basemen in Wins Above Replacement at 1.9. His .388 on-base percentage is second on the team only to Yadier Molina's .389 mark, and that's on a team generating the league's second-most runs per game (4.8).

FWIW, amongst qualified 2Bmen, Marp has the highest wRC+ right now. Strip away the league/park adjustments and he's still 3rd with a .373 wOBA.

[fanforever]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS 5m
best season nobody is talking about: #STLCards matt carpenter is in top 5 in nl w/ 47 runs, .407 obp, 70 hits, 18 2B

[The Third Man]

Wow, I knew Carpenter was tearing it up but didn't realize how much. A .407 OBP? That's sick.

[Vidor]

Wow, I knew Carpenter was tearing it up but didn't realize how much. A .407 OBP? That's sick.

He Who Gets On Base

[Jmodene]

Wow, I knew Carpenter was tearing it up but didn't realize how much. A .407 OBP? That's sick.

He Who Gets On Base

All those HBP's add up.

[Fat Strat]

Wow, I knew Carpenter was tearing it up but didn't realize how much. A .407 OBP? That's sick.

He Who Gets On Base

All those HBP's add up.

Ha, yeah. I immediately thought of Biggio and Vina last night. He should wear and arm pad.

[JL21]

Mattatouille

[Jmodene]

Wow, I knew Carpenter was tearing it up but didn't realize how much. A .407 OBP? That's sick.

He Who Gets On Base

All those HBP's add up.

Ha, yeah. I immediately thought of Biggio and Vina last night. He should wear an arm pad.

I noticed that Craig does. But IIRC, Matt doesn't even wear batting gloves.