Matt Carpenter, 1B/3B, St. Louis Cardinals
2017 fWAR: 3.1
2018 fWAR (so far): 3.3
Remember when Matt Carpenter was enduring a horrific start to the season? Yea, it’s hard for me to remember that, too. He’s now on pace to have his best season since 2015, and if he stays hot, the veteran infielder could challenge his performance in 2013 for the best of his career.
Carpenter’s hard-hit rate has been good all year, but most of the damage has come in the last two months. After posting a 36.7% rate in April, he upped it to 55.4% in May and 56.3% in June before his current 58.3% mark this month.
What’s really fascinating is his ability to not waste batted balls. His 46.7% fly-ball rate is among the highest in baseball, but he’s just one of two qualified hitters (the other being Joey Votto) to currently own a 0.0% infield-fly rate.
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