Matt Carpenter

Matt Carpenter homers in win over Cubs

Matt Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a 5-0 victory over the division-rival Cubs on Sunday night.

Fantasy Impact

The home run was the veteran's third in the last seven games. Unfortunately, after a hot month of May where Carpenter had a slash line of .297/.379/.582, his offensive totals have regressed substantially in June with a line of .241/.302/.431. His numbers have been down all season but the frustrating part for owners is that there might not be anything, in particular, the veteran first baseman can fix to get back on track. His BAbip is at .278 which is lower than his career average but is not low enough to expect a rise. The only numbers that are out of line is the rate that Carpenter is striking out; the veteran is getting punched out in almost 25% of his at-bats and until that improves there is very little reason to expect he will rebound fully this season. Carpenter simply isn't doing enough to be a starting first baseman in smaller leagues but is still worth holding onto in leagues of 12 or more teams.