DETROIT – Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter and Savvy Sliders are bridging the gap between baseball and good eats in Michigan’s hot summer sun.
Carpenter will soon have his limited-time meal, called the “Kerry Bonds” combo, available at Savvy Sliders locations across Michigan.
“This is awesome. I love burgers, and it’s like one of my favorite meals. It was really cool when we set this up, and it’s kind of surreal,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter is on one of the hungriest teams in the MLB, as the Tigers are currently the best team in the majors.
However, when Carpenter was first drafted, the Tigers didn’t even break 50 wins.
For reference, the Tigers have more wins through the end of June this season than they had in their entire 2019 season.
“From when I came up to the big leagues till now, we’ve gotten a lot better. Carpenter said. “It’s been a lot of the same guys, so it’s been cool that I got to play in the minor leagues with a lot of these guys. To see guys like Riley Greene, Tork [Spencer Torkelson], Casey [Mize], and [Tarik] Skubal have really blossomed into all-stars in the big leagues is pretty special.”
Like so many players in the majors, Carpenter’s path to the big leagues wasn’t linear.
Carpenter was promoted to the Tigers in August 2022 after spending over three years in the minor leagues.
That journey, which he shares with many of his teammates, is the best part of it.
“Seeing guys like Parker Meadows come up and do so well and have success at this level. No one really sees the grind that you have in the minor leagues and the struggles that we all went through in the minor leagues,” Carpenter said.
To Carpenter, it doesn’t matter who’s in the big leagues at the time or who’s in the minors.
The Tigers have guys at different levels who can come up and contribute.
With just six series left until the All-Star Break, the Tigers’ power hitter is only concerned about winning.
“We can win deep into the playoffs, and that’s our goal. We showed it last year, and now, this year, we’re showing it wasn’t just a one-off.” Carpenter said.