CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers outfielder and designated hitter Kerry Carpenter will be a game-time decision for the winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians .
On Friday, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said they will make a decision on whether Carpenter can play on Saturday, maximizing the amount of time between now and the game. Carpenter left Game 4 Thursday night with a left hamstring injury he suffered scoring from second base on a Wenceel Pérez RBI single in the sixth inning in Detroit's 5-4 loss.
"Kerry was seen by the doctors last night," Hinch said. "He’s going to be seen by the doctors again today. We are going to take as much time as we can to see what he can and can’t handle. It’s obvious what he’s dealing with and we’re going to hope for the best as we move forward because he’s important to our team, he’s important to our lineup.
"I don’t know right now as I sit here what that’s going to be and we’ll make a game-time decision when we have to."
Carpenter was the Tigers' hero when the series was last in Cleveland for Games 2. Carpenter hit a no-doubt three-run home run off closer Emmanuel Clase in Game 2 in the top of the ninth inning to give the Tigers a 3-0 win and tie the series at 1-1. Through his first five postseason games, he is hitting .250 (4-for-16) with the home run, three RBIs and five strikeouts.
Carpenter had a team-high .932 OPS with 18 home runs in 87 games during the regular season. He missed two months with a lumbar spine stress fracture and returned to the lineup just as the race to the postseason started in August.
A NEW GAME TIME (AGAIN): Detroit Tigers' Game 5 showdown with Cleveland Guardians moved to 1:08 p.m.
Hinch said the Carpenter will receive treatment all day Friday and into Saturday, up until the deadline a decision is required, to maximize his chances of being available Saturday.
"No. 1 is to get a day long full of treatment and figure out where his strength is, where his flexibility is, what he can, can’t handle and we will leave it up to the trainers to keep introducing more and more things and see how it goes," Hinch said. "We even have into tomorrow where we can test him even at a greater level after a full day of treatment and recovery."
Carpenter did not take the field for the team's on-field workout with the rest of the squad Friday afternoon. Detroit also brought Bligh Madris over from Toledo to join the Tigers' taxi squad as a potential back-up option in case the Tigers have to make a switch.
"Given the uncertainty, we added him to the travel group," Hinch said.
The Tigers could add Carpenter to the injured list and try to replace him by requesting permission from the MLB Commissioner's office, but would not have Carpenter for the ALCS should they advance. MLB rules state that any injured player replaced during a postseason series "is then ineligible for the rest of that round and the subsequent round," according to the league's rulebooks.
However, Hinch is just focused on a singular goal of taking the winner-take-all game and advancing to face the Yankees in the next round, by any means necessary. He added if a move were made, it would come some time on Saturday.
"There’s no (next) series if you don’t win tomorrow," Hinch said. "So the number one goal is to win tomorrow and so we will make the right decision for us that we feel is the best for us and at the appropriate time. The rules will be that, obviously, there’s got to be a whole process. If no move is made, there is no process — you set your lineup and go."
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter (hamstring) a game-time decision for ALDS Game 5
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