2K20: Matt Carpenter

[revo]

Another player who went over the falls in '19, Carpenter has a lot to prove to the Cards and fantasy owners alike. After 6 solid years, Carpenter royally shit the bed with a .226/.334/.392 line with just 15 HRs and 46 RBIs in just 416 ABs, but the struggles were season-long. His only month above .238 was September, where he only started 14 of 24 games.

As he enters his age 34 season, what can fantasy owners expect from the former stud? The projection services all see a similar rebound to the days before his big 2018 season: .237 with 20 HRs and 70 RBIs. Generally unexciting. BBHQ projects a continuation of the crap he put up last year.

Do you foresee a return to his great 2018? Or agree with the mild rebound? Or is he kaput?

[chancellor]

At this point, my vote is kaput. Big contract or no, I'm not even clear he starts - if I'm trying to win, I'd think Edman at 3B and O'Neill in LF is the right answer with Carpenter relegated to bench duties. Eye test says he can't catch up to even medium quality heat, much less premium. For example, he'd owned Brewer pitching in previous years, and they just crushed him in 2019.

[Sour Masher]

He has rebounded before, and it is possible he can do it again, but I agree with Chance, if you are set up to win, there is not enough evidence to gamble--spend your money or picks on safer players.

If you need to be bold to have a chance to compete, and he is cheap, grab him and hope he pulls a David Ortiz. He looked like total toast too, and everyone here wrote him off, and then he had a multi-year span of awesome. Carp won't do that, but at 34, there is a chance he can bounce back to respectability.

[DJBeasties]

I loved Matt Carpenter but in 2018 he STUNK for the first half. I dumped him and the team that grabbed Carpenter went on to win it all. Carp went off in the 2nd half.

In 2019, I would not fall for that first-half swoon and instead -- I fell for the full season swoon.

I'll probably not own him in 2020.

[Judge Jude]

I smell ...... TOAST!

but yeah, I won't walk away from the table while he's still in the single digits in deep NL-only.