Photo: Julio Aguilar
New York Yankees utility player Matt Carpenter experienced a serious injury on Monday night amid his resurgent 2022 season.
Carpenter suffered a broken left foot after fouling off an 89 MPH pitch during the first inning of the Yankees' 9-4 road win against the Seattle Mariners and "will be out indefinitely," according to ESPN's Marly Rivera.
The 36-year-old was seen hobbling in pain after the ball hit his foot and was briefly checked by Yankees manager Aaron Boone before finishing the at-bat with a swinging strikeout on the following pitch and then getting pulled from the game.
"When I went to swing on the next pitch, as soon as I started to plant and rotate on that back foot, my lower body like gave out and I wasn't able to," Carpenter said via ESPN. "Thankfully, probably the best thing that happened was to swing and miss -- because if I hit it and had to run, I might have made it worse. But I knew it wasn't good."
Carpenter was seen wearing a protective boot in the Yankees' clubhouse after Monday's win and said he hoped to only miss a month of action, but the Yankees won't publicly issue a timetable for recovery until Carpenter is evaluated by a foot specialist, according to Rivera.
"I don't want to say a number because I just don't know, but I'm holding out hope that it'll be a situation where I could come back in the middle of September and can contribute towards a stretch run,'' Carpenter said via ESPN. "So we'll see. I mean, that's my mindset is that I'll be back.''
Carpenter is currently a favorite to win the American League Comeback Player of the Year award with a .305 batting average, 15 home runs and 37 RBI in just 128 at-bats, which includes reaching base in 27 of his 35 starts for the Yankees in 2022, as well as a .356 average during 73 at-bats in July.
The 36-year-old was a perennial All-Star during the beginning of his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, having made three All-Star appearances during his third, fourth, and sixth MLB seasons, as well as winning the Silver Slugger Award in 2013.
However, Carpenter hit for career-lows in his entire slash line of .186/.325/.314 during the COVID-shortened 2020 MLB season and began 2021 as a backup and bench player, before becoming a free agent for the first time in his career this past offseason.
Carpenter initially signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in March before being released on May 19 and signing with the Yankees seven days later.
The Yankees currently have a 10.5-game lead for first place in the AL East, but faced a five-game losing streak prior to Monday's win.
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