Midseason Report Card: Chris Carter
Grade: F
The
third installment of the BBB’s Midseason Report Cards features former Yankees
first baseman Chris Carter. Carter was
signed just before the start of Spring Training, after a long free agency
provided unfruitful for the big slugger, despite coming off a year in which he
led the National League in home runs.
His time in pinstripes was certainly one to forget as the big righty did
little to nothing before being designated for assignment on June 23rd.
Expected
to be just a role player off the bench as an occasional designated hitter and
platoon first baseman with Greg Bird, Carter was pressed into everyday service
when Bird went down with a bone bruise in his ankle – one which he has yet to
return from.
Carter
appeared in 57 games for the Yankees and hit a paltry .204/.286/.383 over 167
at bats with just eight home runs. He
played competently in the field in place of Bird, however, the most concerning
part of Carter’s game was his strikeout rate.
The Yankees knew they were getting a player who would strike out a lot,
but Carter’s 70 whiffs & 37.0% K/PA rate were good for sixth worst in all
of Major League Baseball. His time in pinstripes will most likely be remembered for swings like this:
The Yankees would’ve lived with the strikeouts if the power was there, but Carter was never able to get it going before he was finally cut loose in favor of youngster Tyler Austin.
Chris Carter. WHAT are you swinging at fam? pic.twitter.com/SxOaIYzQXg— 120 Sports (@120Sports) June 7, 2017
The Yankees would’ve lived with the strikeouts if the power was there, but Carter was never able to get it going before he was finally cut loose in favor of youngster Tyler Austin.
Expectations for Second
Half:
All
expectations for Carter were that we would never see him in pinstripes again,
but just yesterday, June 28th, he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, rather than become a free agent to sign anywhere.
With
reports that Tyler Austin is a DL candidate with a tight hamstring he is
currently dealing with, it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing if the Yankees
turned right back to Carter to man first base again. Of course, since he is no longer on the
40-man roster, a move would have to be made, so maybe for now this keeps Carter
in the minors, but it is definitely something worth watching.
I
expect Carter to see pinstripes again at some point this season, but I don’t
expect the results to be any different than they were during his first tour of
duty.
Conclusion:
The
Yankees brought Carter in on a low-risk, high reward type deal, but that “high
reward” part never fell into place.
Carter did have a few big moments for the Yankees – his pinch-hit, game
winning home run in Pittsburgh comes to mind – but all in all he was generally
an unmitigated disaster for New York.
Assuming Bird can return to the field in the coming weeks and Austin’s
injury isn’t significant (two big ifs, I know), the Yankees won’t miss Carter a
bit and his time in New York will be nothing more than a blip on the radar.
==================================================
Update 06/29/17 5:00 PM EST:
Just five days after being DFA'd, the Yankees recalled Chris Carter in the wake of Tyler Austin being placed on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury.
Article by: Andrew Natalizio
Follow @BronxBomberBall
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment