Matt Carpenter somehow managed to break his bat before making contact with pitch

Strange things happen whenever 38-year-old Matt Carpenter is turning back the clock as the leadoff hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals. Not only did the Cards win on Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee to stave off a four-game sweep (which is weird given the recent form of the Redbirds in itself) but it got even more bizarre when Carpenter was at the plate mid-game.

Up to the plate in the top of the fourth inning against Brewers' Bryse Wilson, Carpenter took at hack at a breaking ball that cut in on his hands from the right-handed hurler. If that was all you knew and I told you that Carpenter broke his bat on the swing, you probably wouldn't think anything of it. We see that basically every day in Major League Baseball.

Here's the kicker, though. The bat broke on Carpenter before he ever made contact -- though it was ruled a foul ball after the broken bat made contact with the pitch as it sailed out of the Cardinals veteran's hands.

The most underrated part of the video is the half of the bat that broke off flying into the infield and sticking out of the grass like a thrown javelin. It's all about the little touches when it comes to a work of art.

Matt Carpenter's no-contact broken bat feels like dark magic

Being as serious as you can be after seeing a moment like this at the highest level of baseball, how in the world does something like this happen? Broken bats are part of the game and we see it when a pitch is in on the hands or even just hits the right spot of the bat. But for it to break off in a player's hands, that's something different entirely.

You'd think that Carpenter would've felt the poor structural integrity of the bat beforehand if it was bad enough to break in half with just a swing. But apparently not!

This is right up there with the rare instances we see -- though more often than this -- when a routine groundball or a throw goes right through the webbing of the glove. There's probably a very logical, reasonable explanation for the whole ordeal. However, when you just watch it with the naked eye, it looks like some illusion that you're left trying to figure out how it's even possible.

Maybe just give the bat a little bit better of a check next time, though, Matt Carpenter. We wouldn't want the javelin-esque piece to actually head toward the pitcher or another player the next time you break a bat just by swinging it.