D.J. Carpenter Earns Call to Double-A

The Cardinal Chronicle
D.J. Carpenter Earns Call to Double-A
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals continued reshuffling the upper levels of their pitching pipeline Monday, promoting right-hander D.J. Carpenter from High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield.

Carpenter, a 6-foot-7, 242-pound right-hander, was officially assigned to Springfield on May 18 after opening the season with Peoria. The move gives the Springfield bullpen another experienced arm with size, swing-and-miss ability and a little bit of professional mileage behind him.

The promotion comes after Carpenter made 14 appearances this season, going 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA, one save, 18 strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP over 15 innings. For a reliever looking to climb, that is the kind of work that gets noticed — not flashy enough to set off sirens, but steady enough to earn the next challenge.

Carpenter was selected by the Cardinals in the 14th round of the 2022 draft out of Oregon State. His path has not exactly been a straight shot up the ladder. Injuries slowed him earlier in his professional career, including time on the injured list in 2023, 2024 and 2025, but the organization has stuck with the big right-hander, and Monday’s promotion is another sign there is still something here worth developing.

That matters. Not every meaningful player movement in the system involves a top-10 prospect or a headline-grabbing teenager. Sometimes it is a 26-year-old reliever with size, persistence and enough strikeout ability to keep forcing his way into the conversation.

Carpenter’s career numbers still show the rough edges — a 4.66 ERA and 1.68 WHIP over 56 professional innings — but his strikeout total, 65 in those 56 innings, points to the trait that gives him a chance. He can miss bats. At Double-A, the Cardinals will find out whether that ability can hold up against more disciplined hitters.

Springfield has become one of the more interesting stops in the Cardinals’ system this season, with several players either pushing their way up the ladder or trying to prove they belong in the next wave. Carpenter now joins that group, not as a finished product, but as another arm getting a tougher test.

For the Cardinals, this is how organizational depth is built — one earned promotion at a time.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.