David Carpenter

[mossy]

Russ Springer action.

Uh........Darren Holmes?

[Braves1976]

I really liked Oscar "The Vulture" Villareal. What a stud.

I liked him a bit too, at least for a long man I thought he was okay. Didn't we trade him to Houston? I think maybe for Josh Anderson? Speaking of Anderson, I liked him quite a bit. I liked his speed and thought he'd be a good 4th outfielder. I think he and Oscar are both retired now. I remember Anderson had some injuries and struggled after returning from them.

[50PoundHead]

Carpenter has done everything and more in terms of expectations. He seems to have passed Varvaro in the pecking order. I think they are interchangeable, but I like them both as 11th/12th guys on the pitching staff. Neither are worldbeaters and I don't think they are suited to pitch in a lot of high leverage situations, but when you throw 95, you can get away with a mistake every now and then.

I give Wren a ton of credit for scouring the waiver wire effectively. O'Flaherty, Varvaro, Carpenter, and Martinez all came to us through that route. Nice haul.

[JohnAdcox]

Carpenter has done everything and more in terms of expectations. He seems to have passed Varvaro in the pecking order. I think they are interchangeable, but I like them both as 11th/12th guys on the pitching staff. Neither are worldbeaters and I don't think they are suited to pitch in a lot of high leverage situations, but when you throw 95, you can get away with a mistake every now and then.

I give Wren a ton of credit for scouring the waiver wire effectively. O'Flaherty, Varvaro, Carpenter, and Martinez all came to us through that route. Nice haul.

This. Very well said.

[jpx7]

Uh........Darren Holmes?

I once saw Holmes in an Atlanta-area Apple store, I believe during his second and final season with the Braves (2003), when I was up for a weekend series with my dad. He is perhaps the most regular-person-looking professional athlete of our generation.

[nsacpi]

I give Wren a ton of credit for scouring the waiver wire effectively. O'Flaherty, Varvaro, Carpenter, and Martinez all came to us through that route. Nice haul.

Not just pitchers. We picked up Schafer as a wire waiver. And Pena, while technically a free agent signing, was another player that no one saw fit to add to their 40 man roster.

[Heyward]

Since Carpenter was claimed, what's his control/contract, etc.

I don't think he's a one year deal, is he?

[50PoundHead]

He's on a one-year contract, but he's not a free agent at he end of the season and he's not eligible for arbitration.

[cajunrevenge]

2015 would be his first year of arbitration. With the volatility of relievers I doubt he is still effective and on this team by the time he hits free agency.

[Carp]

Mr. Carpenter has been a pleasant surprise this year. His strikeout rate is over 10 per nine innings, a career high. Walks are still a little high at 3.29 per nine, but that is an improvement over previous years. Roger McDowell undoubtedly deserves a fair amount of the credit.

As we've seen the past two days, Carpenter has gained Fredi's confidence and is being used in more high leverage situations. I don't mind that, but I think the events of the past two games illustrate some subtleties worth keeping in mind.

First, Carpenter was lights out two days ago in striking out the side. But yesterday, he gave up some ropes, one of which almost left the ballpark. Obvious lesson, like most other pitchers his arm is more lively with rest than pitching on consecutive days. It is worth watching in his case to see if the falloff is more pronounced than other relievers.

Second, Carpenter is a flyball pitcher. I would be much more comfortable using him in a high leverage situation in a big park. In the smaller parks, I think Ayala who is more of groundball pitcher would be preferable.

The third point is that you do want to pay attention to platoon splits. Fredi actually did a good job on that yesterday. Philly had a righty dominated lineup (unusual for them) and Fredi used up Ayala (who pitched to two righties and a switch hitter) and Carpenter (who pitched to three righties and one lefty) before going to Downs and Avilan. It is going to be important that Fredi plays those splits right in close games. All four of Carpenter, Ayala, Downs and Avilan have significant conventional splits. Walden does not, but given that he is pretty much the automatic choice for the eight inning, it really doesn't matter.

I think Huddy deserves more credit. he showed him a different grip on his splitter and slider I think. Carpenter has talked abuot it before.

[Carp]

I once saw Holmes in an Atlanta-area Apple store, I believe during his second and final season with the Braves (2003), when I was up for a weekend series with my dad. He is perhaps the most regular-person-looking professional athlete of our generation.

No, that goes to Greg Madduix, who looks like my 6th grade math teacher

[Braves1976]

I think Huddy deserves more credit. he showed him a different grip on his splitter and slider I think. Carpenter has talked abuot it before.

Agreed.

[nsacpi]

The better slider is part of it. But Carpenter's fastball velocity is also up. His command of all his pitches looks to have improved.

[GovClintonTyree]

The better slider is part of it. But Carpenter's fastball velocity is also up. His command of all his pitches looks to have improved.

Quite frankly, he's been a beast.