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Oct 10, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Detroit Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter (30) reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning during game five of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at T-Mobile Park. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Kerry Carpenter, Wenceel Perez Continued Platoon of Right Field for Tigers in 2025

Originally posted on Detroit Tigers on SI
By Sean O'Leary | Last updated Oct 25, 2025 4:47 PM ET

Despite being competitive in each of the last two seasons, the Detroit Tigers have actually used a ton of platoons with players splitting time at multiple positions.

In 2025, both Parker Meadows and Javier Baez played center field. Baez and Trey Sweeney split time at shortstop. Then there was Zach McKinstry, who played every position but center and catcher. That's also the case in right field, where both Wenceel Perez and Kerry Carpenter spent the majority of their time. Perez had more defensive innings than Carpenter, who is more of the position-less masher.

But once again, both players were good offensively, and each of them set multiple career highs. It may not be a permanent platoon, but both player's bats need to be in the lineup going forward.

Detroit Tigers 2026 Right Field in Review

Offense:
Wenceel Perez (.244/.308/.430, 100 G, 17 2B, 4 3B, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 8 SB, 31 BB, 87 K, .738 OPS, 103 OPS+, 0.7 bWAR)
Kerry Carpenter (.252/.291/.497, 130 G, 18 2B, 5 3B, 26 HR, 62 RBI, 1 SB, 18 BB, 106 K, .788 OPS, 114 OPS+, 1.8 bWAR)

Other Notable Starter:
Zach McKinstry (.259/.333/.438, 144 G, 23 2B, 11 3B, 12 HR, 49 RBI, 19 SB, 46 BB, 111 K, .771 OPS, 113 OPS+, 2.8 bWAR).

Defense (Baseball Savant):
Perez (81 G, 71 GS, 2 Outs Above Average, 1 Arm Value, 625.1 Innings, .978 Fielding Percentage, 3 Errors, 5 Assists)
Carpenter ( 55G, 49 GS, -3 OAA, -1 AV, 413.2 Inn, .969 Fld%, 3 E, 2 A)
McKinstry (30 G, 20 GS, 0 OAA, 200 Inn, 1.000 Fld%, 0 E, 1 A).

Season Notes

In his second season, Perez set career highs in doubles (17), homers (13), RBIs (43), OPS (.738) and OPS+ (103) all in 12 less games than his rookie year. He also struck out five less times. He began the season on the injured list with a spine injury and didn't play until May 27.

Despite hitting a career high 26 home runs, Carpenter actually had a down year compared to 2024. In the most games he ever played, Carpenter really struggled to get on base, lowering his walk percentage from 7.4 percent to 3.9 percent. His .788 OPS was also a career low.

McKinstry had a career year at the plate, setting multiple career highs and making the All-Star team, but most of his innings came elsewhere as he was the Tigers' best utility player.

A Look at Right Field in 2026

In all likelihood, the arrangement for right field will likely be the same in 2026. Although Carpenter has the edge offensively, he's a poor defender and the splits basically even things out.

In 2025, Carpenter had 401 at-bats versus right handers, where he hit 23 of his 26 home runs and posted an .812 OPS. That was more on pace with his numbers from past seasons. Against lefties, it's been hard to justify putting him in the lineup. In just 63 at-bats, Carpenter only hit three home runs and posted a .638 OPS.

Luckily, Perez has the exact opposite split, posting an .865 OPS versus lefties and a .688 OPS against righties. More of his home runs came against right-handed pitching, but Perez's slugging percentage against lefties (.541) was far better than against righties (.386).

A fully healthy season of Perez next year could see him get even better at the plate. He improved in every area in 2025, and keeping that up would make it hard to leave him out of the lineup.

Carpenter isn't in any danger of losing at-bats, but it's worth nothing that his OPS+ plummeted from 157 in 2024 to 114 in 2025. A huge part of that was his inability to draw walks, as his walk rate dropped from 7.4 percent to 3.9 percent. If he improves that, he will be right where he was a year ago.

Detroit will be happy running both of these players out next season and could even try to fit both of them in at the same time should they continue to hit well.