DETROIT – The Tigers will have to go through their potential season-defining stretch leading into the Trade Deadline without Kerry Carpenter, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
What began as a very relatable case of footwear change has become a larger problem for Carpenter, who developed a heel bruise after changing cleats from a model that was being phased out to a newer version with different traction. The cleats dug into Carpenter’s heel, causing a bruise. The Tigers had modified the cleats to try to alleviate the issue.
“It’s a bummer that they stopped making the cleat that I was wearing,” Carpenter said last week. “I never had problems before.”
The heel bothers Carpenter most while running; he was lifted for a pinch-runner last Monday against the Cubs. Carpenter said last week that it did not impact him while hitting. However, he was replaced in right field on Sunday after feeling the heel in his second at-bat, when he did not reach base.
“I think it’s somewhat connected to the heel bruise,” manager A.J. Hinch said Monday, “but it’s a different part of his foot that he felt [Sunday], which is why we’re getting the specialist to look at it.”
The issue comes against the backdrop of a midseason slump for Carpenter, whose .208 average, .692 OPS and 90 OPS+ are by far the worst numbers of his five-year Major League career. He’s batting just 6-for-52 (.115) in July, and he hasn’t had an extra-base hit since homering on June 30 at Yankee Stadium.
“I don’t think he’s going to do much for a couple days, and then this is obviously symptom based,” Hinch said. “I’ve never had it, but I know it’s painful, and then it can get better as inflammation gets out of there. They have some treatments and some things with his shoes he can do to hopefully feel a little bit better.
“As soon as he can do something, he’ll do more and more and more. I don’t know if it’s minimum [10 days]. I don’t know if it’s more than minimum. I know it’s painful, and we watched him hobble around for a little bit. That needs to cool, and then we’ll increase his activities as best we can.”
The silver lining for the Tigers is that they won’t have to dig deep into their system for a replacement, with catcher/first baseman Eduardo Valencia recalled from Triple-A Toledo to fill the slot. Valencia, the Tigers’ No. 11 prospect, batted 5-for-12 with two home runs during his first big league stint in Detroit earlier this month, but he was optioned back to Toledo last week when Gleyber Torres returned from the IL.
Detroit could soon get more help with the return of infielder/center fielder Javier Báez from the 60-day injured list, but Báez was not activated Monday. Báez has batted 6-for-12 with three doubles over a four-game rehab assignment between Triple-A Toledo and Single-A Lakeland after being out nearly three months with a right ankle sprain.