Chris Carpenter

Christopher John Carpenter (born April 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

As a junior in 1992, his baseball team won the state championship.

He was selected for The Boston Globe All-Scholastic team as a senior.

The Blue Jays selected Carpenter in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft from Trinity High School in New Hampshire.

In 1993, his senior campaign, he earned Athlete of the Year honors.

He committed to play college baseball for Creighton.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Carpenter in the first round as the 15th overall pick of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft; he was chosen as a compensation pick from the Texas Rangers for signing Tom Henke.

He was the first player from New Hampshire ever taken in the first round of the draft.

He signed for $580,000.

Standing 6ft 6in, scouts saw potential in his size, projectability, low-90s fastball, and power Curveball.

However, he needed to develop his control and changeup—he consistently struggled with his control early in his career.

He began his professional career in 1994 in Minor League Baseball with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays of the short-season Pioneer League.

In his debut against the Great Falls Dodgers, he tossed six scoreless innings of one-hit ball, fanning nine along the way.

When he defeated the Lethbridge Mounties, he claimed the July 2 Pitcher of the Week award.

His early success continued throughout the season as he finished with a 2.56 earned run average (ERA) with 80 strikeouts (SO), 39 bases on balls (BB) and 76 hits allowed in 84 2⁄3 innings pitched (IP).

He ended the season with a win–loss record of 6–3 and turned in the league's third-lowest ERA.

He was also picked as the Pioneer League's number-three prospect by league managers, behind Aaron Boone and Ray Brown.

The Blue Jays promoted Carpenter to the Class-A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays of Florida State League in 1995.

Baseball America rated him the #100 prospect in the minor leagues before the season.

He made 15 starts and yielded a 2.17 ERA in 99 1⁄3 innings.

In 13 of those starts, he yielded three or fewer earned runs (ER).

However, he posted a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) of 1.12, with 56 strikeouts and 50 walks.

After a promotion to the AA Knoxville Blue Jays of the Southern League, he struggled with a 5.18 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 31 for 1.17 K/BB.

Returning to Knoxville the next season, Carpenter's Baseball America rating moved up to #82 among all minor leaguers, and was third in the organization.

Pitching against the Carolina Mudcats on May 17, he struck out six batters in the sixth and seventh innings, and 10 total in a 5–0 win.

He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012.

A Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion, he was also a three-time All-Star selection.

Additionally, he was twice named the Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year, and received votes for a number of Comeback Player of the Year awards after various surmounting injuries.

He made his MLB debut for Toronto in 1997.

However, injuries and ineffectiveness delayed his career before the Blue Jays released him in 2002.

After the Cardinals signed him, he emerged as an ace in 2004, winning the Cy Young Award in 2005 and helping lead the Cardinals to World Series titles in 2006 and 2011.

For much of his career, Carpenter relied on a cutter that produced a heavy bore and finished with a sharp drop, a 12-to-6 Curveball, and a sinker.

Multiple injuries that were deemed career-threatening—including three surgeries on his elbow, two on his shoulder and another on his rib cage—caused Carpenter to miss nearly five full seasons.

However, he rehabilitated and returned to pitch after each of these injuries.

In nine seasons playing for the Cardinals, he won 95 regular-season games and compiled a 3.07 ERA in 197 starts and 1348 2⁄3 innings pitched.

His .683 winning percentage during that period led the Major Leagues.

In 18 postseason starts, he won 10 games with a 3.00 ERA over 108 innings.

Chris Carpenter was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, but grew up in Raymond, New Hampshire, later moving to Bedford.

He played in Little League Baseball, Babe Ruth League, and American Legion Baseball.

While attending Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, he was selected all-state for three years in both baseball and hockey.