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Christopher John Carpenter is an American former Major League baseball starting pitcher. During his 15-year career, Carpenter pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals. Drafted by Toronto in the first round of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft, Carpenter broke into the majors as a 22 year-old highly-regarded prospect in 1997 and pitched for Toronto until the end of the 2002 season. However, injuries and ineffectiveness delayed a promising career as Carpenter managed a 4.83 earned run average in 870 innings pitched and 135 games started. The Blue Jays released him after the 2002 season.
Carpenter found new life when the Cardinals signed him as a free agent before the 2003 season. In 2004, he posted a 3.46 ERA and won 15 games while pitching 182 innings as the Cardinals won 105 games. The next season, he won a Cy Young Award with a 2.83 ERA while winning 21 games, striking out 213 and leading the National League with seven complete games. Carpenter started 32 games in 2006 as he won his first World Series. However, he missed nearly all of 2007 and 2008 to injury including Tommy John surgery. He played nearly all of 2009 while leading the NL in ERA. In 2011, Carpenter pitched two shutout clinchers, becoming the first pitcher to do so as he won his second World Series. Thoracic outlet syndrome took him out of action for nearly all of 2012 and ultimately ended his career. Carpenter pitched his final nine seasons for the Cardinals, winning a Cy Young Award, election to three All-Star Games, 95 regular-season victories, 10 postseason victories and a 3.07 ERA in 197 starts and 1348 ²â„3 IP. Although he proved instrumental in two World Series championships, his perseverance in returning to play from multiple episodes of complex and career-threatening injuries also gained much notoriety.
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