Detroit Tigers: Kerry Carpenter's bat might make a difference

Detroit Tigers need offense and Kerry Carpenter might be the answer.

The Detroit Tigers' offense has been abysmal as of late. The team has struggled to really get things going with the bat, which is a problem. Injuries have also been an issue, making things even more complicated, but the offense has been struggling to hack it lately.

The Detroit Tigers losing out on Riley Greene was a tough loss. He was having a bit of a breakout year, really finding his swing and getting into a groove amid the Tigers' offense. The good thing for the Tigers is that they will be getting some reinforcements back.

As Co-Expert Matthew Scheidel wrote, the Tigers will have reinforcements on the way as injured players start to work back from injuries and get back onto the field. One player who the team has already gotten back from the Injured List (IL) is Kerry Carpenter.

The left-handed hitting outfielder departed a game early after robbing a home run against the Baltimore Orioles. He hit the wall hard and ended up with a shoulder injury. The good news is that he has been on the road to recovery and after some time in Toledo, he was able to get things going, slotting into the lineup as the DH on Friday.

He's been down in Toledo with the Mud Hens, tuning things up, looking to get back to 100% and dial his swing back in. After all of that, he was able get the all-clear to rejoin the Tigers and hopefully provide some much needed offensive help.

Carpenter has played in 20 games during the 2023 season, where he has slashed .217/.280/.464 with five doubles and four home runs, plating eight runs. He's looking to get the swing back in shape and be good to go. Here's some footage of Carpenter taking BP with Toledo before he made the return to Detroit.

He's got a swing that can lift the ball, getting the hands on an uphill plane through the zone, so there's reason to think he could provide a boost if he can come back and tap into some pop. If he can get the pitch in his happy zone, he's shown the ability to turn around the fastball, which is something that the Tigers have really struggled with as of late.

He's not the savior for the whole team or going to come back and be an all-star, but the Tigers may be able to squeeze some momentum out of him or just see him settle in nicely, kickstarting an offense that cannot seem to buy hits.