Pitchers likely aren’t used to seeing Carpenter attack a first pitch and he said, “I’m sure that’s something they’re going to have to think about as the year goes on. There’s so many stats now. They’ll know and make their adjustments. We’ll all make our adjustments.”

Yet, while Carpenter leads the club in runs batted in at 22, he has been among the leaders in the league in walks at 28.

“I’ve walked a lot in my first at-bat in the game,” said Carpenter, who has had five first-inning walks in the past 14 games. “So if I come up with nobody on and two outs, I feel I’m being pitched way different than if I lead off the game. They don’t want to walk the first guy in the game.

“But, with two out and nobody on, I feel like the pitcher will take a chance and say, ‘If I walk him, I walk him. I’ve got two outs and a runner on first.’”

Although he has compiled most of his good statistics as a leadoff hitter in his career, Carpenter says he now prefers to hit third.

“I do like it, just in the sense that I love hitting with runners on base,” he said. “In the leadoff spot, that rarely happens because you have to hit behind the pitcher.”