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'You just ride the waves': Matt Carpenter is hoping his late 2018 hot streak returns this season

We saw a little bit of everything from Matt Carpenter in 2018. This season, he'll have a set position on the field and in the batting order from day one. He's hoping it'll help him rekindle his insane hot streak from last summer.

Matt Carpenter's 2018 season had Cardinals fans at a loss for words both positively and negatively.

His abysmal start to the season had fans ready to hunt him down with torches and pitchforks.

His insane midsummer hot streak had fans clamoring for him to enter the MVP discussion.

In 2019, Carpenter is hoping to "ride the waves" of that hot streak and help carry the team all season long.

We sat down with Carpenter at spring training in Jupiter to talk about his relationship with Paul Goldschmidt, just how locked in he was during his hot streak and how having a defined position could help his game in 2019.

Through March and April last season, Matt Carpenter hit .155 with almost no power. The team went just 15-12 during that stretch.

Then, Carpenter's season got hotter than a steamy St. Louis summer day.

In August alone, Carpenter hit 11 home runs and slugged a ridiculous .774 on his way to finishing with 36 bombs and 81 RBI's and a ninth place finish in the NL MVP race.

So, which Carpenter will we see in 2019?

If you put any stock in spring training stats (which you probably shouldn't), Carpenter's power hasn't gone anywhere, but his ability to get on base certainly seems to be missing so far.

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But, like I said, it's spring training. Carpenter is a pro, and will be ready to get on base from the lead off spot on March 28.

Even if he isn't hitting, he's always had the ability to draw walks, (he drew 102 last season) and will be a terrific table setter for the big bats of Goldschmidt, Ozuna and DeJong.

Having a set position should help Carpenter in 2019 as well.

With Goldschmidt now anchoring first, Carpenter is the third baseman. Period.

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He'll be able to show up to the ballpark every day knowing he'll be batting lead off and holding down the hot corner.

Carpenter told us in Jupiter he's looking forward to the consistency of his 2019 situation.

The real Matt Carpenter is somewhere in-between the two versions we saw last season.

Fans shouldn't expect him to hit almost 40 home runs again and go on a stretch where we're expecting him to go yard every time he steps to the plate. But they also shouldn't expect the abysmal start he got off to last season.

By this point, Carpenter has proven the stats will be there at the end of the year. The waves might fluctuate up and down, but when we look back on 2019 we'll be saying Matt Carpenter was one of the most impressive members of the club once again.

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