Kerry William Carpenter (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

Carpenter attended Eustis High School in

Eustis, Florida Eustis is a city in Lake County, Florida, United States. It lies about 35 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida and is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population in the city ...

, where he batted .463 with three home runs as a senior in 2016. After graduating, he enrolled at St. Johns River State College where he played two years of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

, before transferring to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

to play for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

for the 2019 season. In his year with Virginia Tech, he started 53 games, and hit .272 with ten home runs and 45 RBI.

Professional career

Carpenter was drafted by the

in the 19th round, with the 562nd overall selection, of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

. Carpenter signed with the Tigers and split his first professional season between the rookie–level Gulf Coast League Tigers and Low–A

Connecticut Tigers The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play ...

, batting .303 with nine home runs and 35 RBI over 47 games. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Carpenter spent 2021 with the Double–A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Ti ...

and hit .262 with 15 home runs, 74 RBI, and 24 doubles over 112 games. He returned to Erie to open the 2022 season. He was named Eastern League Player of the Month for May. After batting .304 with 22 home runs and 48 RBI over 63 games with Erie, he was promoted to the Triple–A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

in late June. On August 10, 2022, the Tigers selected Carpenter's contract and added him to the Major League roster. He made his MLB debut the same day as Detroit's starting

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

, going hitless over four

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s. He collected his first MLB hit on August 14, a single versus the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. Carpenter hit his first MLB home run on August 15 off of Eli Morgan of the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. For the 2023 season, Carpenter played in 118 games, batting .278 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI. Carpenter began the 2024 campaign with Detroit, hitting .283 with eight home runs and 29 RBI across 50 games. He was placed on the injured list with

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm (anatomy), diaphragm and the sacrum. Naming and location The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lowe ...

spine inflammation on May 29, 2024. Carpenter was transferred to the 60–day injured list on July 21. He was activated on August 13. In his return, Carpenter hit two home runs against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. In the regular season, Carpenter hit .284 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI in 87 games. On October 7, in Game 2 of the 2024 American League Division Series against the

, Carpenter hit a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning off of Cleveland closer

Emmanuel Clase Emmanuel Clase ( ; born March 18, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, making his debut with the team in 2019. Cla ...

, who had given up only 2 home runs in 74.1 innings, breaking a 0–0 tie and leading to a 3–0 Tigers win. On June 2, 2025, Carpenter hit three home runs in a 13–1 Tigers victory over the

. It was the first three-homer game of his career, and the first by a Tiger since Victor Martínez in 2016. Carpenter was placed on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring injury on July 2, 2025.

Personal life

Carpenter is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He has said, “My goal, basically, is to just be as great as I possibly can be, to reach my full potential. And I personally believe the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ. That’s the foundation. That’s the rock. He’ll guide me and lead me wherever, but that’s kind of the way I think I can honor Him through this sport that I play.”. Carpenter got engaged to girlfriend, softball player Lauren Burke, in December 2023.

References

External links

Virginia Tech Hokies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Kerry 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Eustis, Florida Baseball players from Lake County, Florida Major League Baseball outfielders Detroit Tigers players Virginia Tech Hokies baseball players St. Johns River State Vikings baseball players Gulf Coast Tigers players Connecticut Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Toledo Mud Hens players