David Carpenter (carpeda01)

Darrell David Carpenter

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
• School West Virginia University
• High School East Fairmont High School
• Debut June 30, 2011
• Final Game August 18, 2019
• Born July 15, 1985 in Morgantown, WV USA

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Biographical Information

David Carpenter has pitched parts of six seasons in the major leagues.

Carpenter hit .235/.330/.358 as the West Virginia University's lightest-hitting regular in 2004. The next year, he improved to .282/.370/.455. In 2006, he batted .316/.405/.455 and was named All-Big East at catcher. The St. Louis Cardinals took him in the 12th round of the 2006 amateur draft. David was signed by scout Brian Hopkins and began his pro career with the State College Spikes, eking out a .189/.278/.225 line while fielding .989 at catcher. He followed in 2007 by batting .221/.250/.313 for the Batavia Muckdogs and going 0 for 1 for the GCL Cardinals. He started 2008 with the Quad Cities River Bandits (7 for 25, a double, a triple, 5 walks) and Palm Beach Cardinals (7 for 40, 3 doubles, a home run, a walk). Hitting only .208/.266/.290 in 95 minor league games, the Cardinals moved him to the mound.

As a pitcher, Carpenter appeared for the Johnson City Cardinals (3 runs, 8 strikeouts in 6 innings) and GCL Cardinals (3 saves, 6 runs (only one earned) in 8 2/3 innings, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts). Back with Quad Cities as a reliever full-time in 2009, he went 5-3 with 12 saves and a 4.28 ERA, striking out 77 in 67 1/3 innings. He began 2010 strong with the Palm Beach Cardinals (5-3, 20 saves, 2.36) before being dealt in August to the Houston Astros for Pedro Feliz. Assigned to the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League, he was the winning pitcher in an unusual no-hitter on August 25: Lancaster won 3-1 over Lake Elsinore in 10 innings, using 5 pitchers. Carpenter came on in the 8th after Lake Elsinore tied the score against David Berner without the benefit of a hit. He got out of the jam and pitched a perfect 9th inning; when his teammates scored two runs in the top of the 10th, he was credited with the win, after which Jose Trinidad completed the feat with a hitless 10th inning. Overall, he was 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA for Lancaster.

After a minuscule 1.91 ERA with 14 saves between AA (0-1, 4 saves, 4.50 for the Corpus Christi Hooks) and AAA (9 saves, no runs in 19 innings for the Oklahoma City RedHawks) levels in 2011, Carpenter was promoted to the Astros in late June. In his major league debut, he relieved Wandy Rodriguez in the 8th inning with a 7-0 deficit against the Texas Rangers. He struck out Craig Gentry, retired Endy Chavez on a fly ball, then got Ian Kinsler on another fly for a good debut. Matt Downs pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the 8th. He was part of an unusual strategic move in a game against the Colorado Rockies on August 23rd at Coors Field. Lefty Wesley Wright began the 8th inning by retiring Carlos Gonzalez, but manager Brad Mills wanted a righty to face Troy Tulowitzki; he brought in Carpenter to pitch, but kept Wright in the game by moving him to right field. After Carpenter retired Tulo, Wright returned to the mound to face Todd Helton. Carpenter picked up his first career save on August 28th, pitching the bottom of the 11th inning of a 4-3 win against the San Francisco Giants. In that game, the Astros' usual closer, Mark Melancon, had come in to pitch the 10th but blew the save opportunity. After the Astros took the lead for a second time in the top of the 11th, Mills turned to Carpenter to close the win, and he was successful. He finished the season with a record of 1-3, 2.93 in 34 appearances, with 29 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings.

In 2012, Carpenter failed to build on his strong rookie year. After 30 games, he was 0-2, with a 6.07 ERA and 43 hits allowed in under 30 innings. On July 20th, he was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a 10 player trade. He only pitched three times for the Jays, atrociously: in 2 2/3 innings, he gave up 10 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks for a 30.38 ERA. He did pitch slightly better in the minors, going 1-0, 2.08 in 7 games for Oklahoma City, then was 0-1, 3.57 in 16 games for the Las Vegas 51s in the Blue Jays organization. Not having endeared himself to his new team, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox on October 21st in return for infielder Mike Aviles in the deal that was compensation for the Sox signing Jays manager John Farrell. A month later, the Red Sox put him on waivers and he was claimed by the Atlanta Braves. Carpenter had a very good season in 2013, going 4-1, 1.78 in 56 games with 74 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. He pitched in the postseason for the first time, but he gave up two home runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, including a game-winning two-run shot by Juan Uribe in the 8th inning of Game 4. He was back with the Braves in 2014, pitching 65 games and going 6-4, 3.54 with 3 saves, with 67 strikeouts in 61 innings.

Before the 2015 season, Carpenter was traded to the New York Yankees, with Chasen Shreve, in return for prospect Manny Banuelos. He appeared in 22 games for the Yankees, going 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA. On June 11th he was traded again, to the Washington Nationals, for Tony Renda. He did a lot better, with an ERA of 1.50 in 8 games, as injuries slowed him down in the second half. After the season, he returned to the Braves as a a free agent, but made only one appearance in spring training in 2016 before being released on March 5th. He did not return to the big leagues until 2019 with the Texas Rangers in 2019, with a 5.40 ERA in 4 games.

Sources include 2010 Cardinals Media Guide

Related Sites

• David Carpenter on mlb.com