After nearly a 20 year span in the major leagues, St. Louis Cardinals ace, Chris Carpenter may have taken to the mound for the last time. Just hours ago, Cardinals General Manager, John Mozeliak, made the announcement that Carp would be sitting out the entire upcoming 2013 season due to numbness in his head, back and neck. The same symptoms that kept him out of the majority of 2012.
Mozeliak said in his press conference Tuesday that he expects Carpenter to have a “normal after-career.” By listening to the tone in his voice, both he, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, are under the impression that Carpenter has thrown for the last time in his illustrious career.
Spanning over two decades, the hard throwing right-hander was drafted in the first round of the 1993 draft (15th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays, straight out of Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. He made his major league debut with the Jays in 1997 and remained on their active roster until 2002. After declaring for free agency, he was picked up by the Cardinals and for the past 10 years, the ace of the team has gone 95-44 with a 3.07 ERA , 1.13 WHIP and 1,085 strikeouts in 1,348 2/3 innings.
Carpenter’s career has been plagued by injuries since coming to St. Louis in the 2002 season. A torn shoulder labrum, a torn ulnar-collateral ligament (which needs Tommy John surgery to repair), and thoracic outlet syndrome (which stemmed from nerve issues in his shoulder and neck area) have all caused Carpenter to start a total of seven games in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2012 combined.
As far as the Cardinals pitching staff is concerned, when Mozeliak was asked about revisiting signing free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse, said simply, “We’re comfortable with what we have.” The Cardinals still have veterans Adam Wainwright and Jake Westbrook definitely in the rotation, Jaime Garcia, who is recovering from a shoulder injury and Lance Lynn who could used as a started or in the bullpen. The blooming talents of Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly and Trevor Rosenthal are all fighting for the open spots, as well.
Carp did win the NL Cy Young award in 2005, finished second in Cy Young voting 2009 and second in 2009, won the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2009 and made three All-Star Games. He also is the Cardinals’ most winningest pitcher in the postseason going 10-4 with a 3.00 ERA and two World Series Championships.
According to Matt Snyder of Eye on Baseball at CBS Sports, Carpenter is due $12.5 million this season. If he retires, he wouldn’t get the money.
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