Chris Carpenter attempting come back as reliever

[Skippy15]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...72ca99e4b.html

Carp is going to try to come back as a reliever. There's no time table but he can't come off the DL till the end of May. So it could be later if at all

It does make sense because the issue doesn't set in until he's thrown several pitches.

If he could get the strength back to throw about 30 pitches he could be very valuable with Motte and Boggs gone, they were the more veteran pitchers there

I would love this, I love Carp. I think it would be great, I'm hopeful

[Tkais9009]

God that would be amazing

[redbird89]

I admire his resilience.

We'll see how it goes.

I'm sure it's frustrating not being able to do anything for your own team.

If anybody could do this it would be Carp.

[rr9prp9]

Good to see Carpenter returning. Loved him the last few years for us. Positive he could help us in the bullpen. I have a feeling that martinez might get sent back soon for John Gast. Gast is pitching incredibly well and I don't think the Cardinals want Martinez to end up like Jose Fernandez. In other words, they don't want to rush him to the majors yet. He played already but I think its temporary. Martinez is the 3rd youngest player in the league behind Bryce Harper and José Fernandez so he definitely has room to develop

[Tkais9009]

im definitely not getting my hopes up this time

[cards7]

As much as I enjoy the thought of Chris Carpenter coming back, I would hate that a rushed attempt would further hinder his quality of life because of the nerve issue. I remember reading he was having issues picking up his kids and doing daily tasks after his Feb. relapse. Hopefully all sides are cautious.

[Skippy15]

Good to see Carpenter returning. Loved him the last few years for us. Positive he could help us in the bullpen. I have a feeling that martinez might get sent back soon for John Gast. Gast is pitching incredibly well and I don't think the Cardinals want Martinez to end up like Jose Fernandez. In other words, they don't want to rush him to the majors yet. He played already but I think its temporary. Martinez is the 3rd youngest player in the league behind Bryce Harper and José Fernandez so he definitely has room to develop

If he is pitching well he is going to stay up, remember Rosenthal skipped AAA and he was 21. There's nothing wrong with guys developing at the MLB level, he's had 4 seasons in the system including this year.

He's also got one of the best fastballs in all of MLB after 1 game. He has a plus change up. He's ready to pitch here, the only bad thing is now he will be a super 2 but if he really is going to be as good as it appears we will lock him up before his arb years are over anyway.

Plus, we need a 7-9th inning pitcher, Mujica and Rosenthal can't do it all. Unless he is just completely overwhelmed by batters he isn't going down

But you are right about Gast, he will be up soon but looks for Joe Kelly or Salas to be sent down.

As much as I enjoy the thought of Chris Carpenter coming back, I would hate that a rushed attempt would further hinder his quality of life because of the nerve issue. I remember reading he was having issues picking up his kids and doing daily tasks after his Feb. relapse. Hopefully all sides are cautious.

From what I remember reading and I could be wrong, but the issue can't worsen from him continuing to pitch, its already there, kinda like Pujols and his plantars fasciitis, there's some treatment for it but as long as he's playing baseball it's probably not going away. It's just going to be sore and numb when he throws alot of pitches.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what I read. It's not something that one day it's going to pop and it's all over and he has a dead arm or anything

[redbird89]

I've never seen Chris Carpenter with hair.

http://www.robrains.com/CARDINALSMLB...-recovery.aspx

[rr9prp9]

I heard today he threw 70 pitches of all sorts. Curveball, fastball, etc. No pain so it sounds like this is actually happening!

[Tkais9009]

love that hair

[rapjuicer06]

I've never seen him with hair either. Makes him look younger

[Skippy15]

That's what I thought. He almost looks like a high school kid who looks a little older than he is.

Like I can just see him roaming around school with his book bag being like "hey guys" or "**** you *******" lol

[Jeffy25]

If he could even just be a long man and just be available in the playoffs, I would be happy.

And if someone gets hurt (from the rotation) then he steps in. Otherwise, he is an awesome weapon in the pen, especially in a playoff series.

[Skippy15]

That's whats interesting, Carpenter can fit almost any role.

Long man, 7th inning guy, closer. He could be successful at any.

He would be best as a kind of middle innings hybrid IMO, kinda like we thought Kelly would be.

A guy who pitchers anytime from innings 1-9 but out of the bullpen, sometimes he might just come in and pitch 1 innings, sometimes he might come in after a rough start by someone and pitch 5-6 innings. Sometimeshe might come in for the 5th and pitch the 5th, 6th, 7th. If we have a big lead he could pitch he last 3-4 innings of a game if we had a night like last night but up by 7 runs, we don't need Lynn throwing so many pitches. It's been something like 110, 110 and over 120 last start.

Not a good Trend. A guy like Carpenter rather than salas could really help that situation