MattCarpenter

ESPN Fantasy Projection: In 2018, some naysayers had concerns about Carpenter's shoulder inhibiting his ability to hit for power. Those critics were silenced with a career year. What goes up must come down, however, and that is what happened to Carpenter in 2019 as his production took a tumble. The shoulder did not fail him, but back and foot problems did, causing him to fall below 550 plate appearances for the first time since 2012. When a hitter's core and base fail him, the results are going to suffer. It makes it difficult to hit with the quality of contact necessary to be successful. Carpenter's exit velocity and launch angle fell more than two percentage points with the injuries. A repeat of 2018 is unlikely, but you can expect something in the 2015-17 average range, assuming his health issues are behind him.