Kerry Carpenter News: Goes deep Wednesday

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in an exhibition game versus Team Panama on Wednesday.

Carpenter went deep against Kenny Hernandez, a 27-year-old who has bounced around independent baseball the past few seasons. Of greater significance is the fact that Hernandez is left-handed. While Carpenter will face higher-quality pitching moving forward, his ability to produce against southpaws will go a long way toward determining his fantasy value in 2026. There's been talk in camp that Carpenter could receive more opportunities against lefties after logging only 60 at-bats against them during the regular season last year. The 28-year-old regularly rakes against righties, but his fantasy ceiling has been capped in the past due to being mostly a strong-side platoon player.