Kerry Carpenter

Kerry William Carpenter (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career
Carpenter attended Eustis High School in Eustis, Florida, where he batted .463 with three home runs as a senior in 2016. After graduating, he enrolled at St. Johns River State College where he played two years of college baseball, before transferring to Virginia Tech to play for the Virginia Tech Hokies for the 2019 season. In his year with Virginia Tech, he started 53 games, and hit .272 with ten home runs and 45 RBIs. After the season, he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 19th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career
Carpenter signed with the Tigers and split his first professional season between the Gulf Coast League Tigers and Connecticut Tigers, batting .303 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs over 47 games. He did not play a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season. He played 2021 with the Erie SeaWolves and hit .262 with 15 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 24 doubles over 112 games. He returned to Erie to open the 2022 season. He was named Eastern League Player of the Month for May. After batting .304 with 22 home runs and 48 RBIs over 63 games with Erie, he was promoted to the AAA Toledo Mud Hens in late June.

On August 10, 2022, the Tigers selected Carpenter's contract and added him to the Major League roster. He made his MLB debut the same day as Detroit's starting designated hitter, going hitless over four at-bats. He collected his first MLB hit on August 14, a single versus the Chicago White Sox. He hit his first MLB home run on August 15 off of Eli Morgan of the Cleveland Guardians. For the 2023 season, Carpenter played in 118 games, batting .278 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI.

Personal life
Carpenter is a Christian. He has said, “My goal, basically, is to just be as great as I possibly can be, to reach my full potential. And I personally believe the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ. That’s the foundation. That’s the rock. He’ll guide me and lead me wherever, but that’s kind of the way I think I can honor Him through this sport that I play.”. Carpenter got engaged to girlfriend, softball player Lauren Burke, in December 2023.