11/21/15 – Atlanta signed free agent RHP David Carpenter to a minor league contract for the 2016 season.
All your David Carpenters are belong to us.
Atlanta extended an invite to spring training to David Carpenter v1.0, the David Carpenter who was exceptionally useful for the Braves in 2013 and 2014 before being traded away in the ’14-’15 offseason (not to be confused with David Carpenter v2.0, who pitched for Atlanta last year). 2015 proved to be a step backwards for Carpenter, as he was mostly ineffective for the Yankees until they dealt him to Washington, where he was mostly solid over a small sample of 6 innings. The only run he surrendered for Washington came in Atlanta, where he gave up a homer to who other than Juan Uribe, causing plenty of confused and mixed reactions from those of us in attendance. As a Brave rounded the bases, my brain knew to clap, but I did look toward the bullpens just to make sure Craig Kimbrel wasn’t standing red-cheeked in frustration. It all felt bizarre.
I love signings like this. Carp still has his velocity, with a fastball averaging 95 mph last year. He’s returning to where he was last very successful, and you could easily see him getting things back together and making the 2016 roster. And if he doesn’t, there’s nothing really lost on a minor league deal.
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