Blue Jays have plenty of ties to the Hall of Fame ballot

The One The Jays May Have Given Up Too Early On

Chris Carpenter

Carpenter debuted with the Blue Jays as a 22 year old in 1997, and was part of a hopeful dynamic duo with Roy Halladay in the late 90’s. He did eventually go on to have a pretty great career, which is why he’s on the ballot at all, but unfortunately he never realized his full potential in Toronto.

That doesn’t mean it was all bad though either, as he was 49-49 as a Blue Jay, with his best season coming in 2001 when he was 11-11 with a 4.09 ERA in 34 starts and 215.2 innings pitched.

When he moved on to St. Louis to pitch with the Cardinals, his career went to a whole other level, pretty much immediately. He was 15-5 in his first season in the National League in 2003, and won the Cy Young in 2004 with a 21-5 record and a 2.83 ERA.

For his career he finished with a record of 144-94 with a 3.76 ERA in 15 seasons. He was an All-Star three times, and finished in the top three of Cy Young voting three times as well, with the lone win coming in 2004. In those three seasons, he actually was good enough to earn MVP votes as well.

Unfortunately for as good as he was, his candidacy looks like a long shot at best. He battled injuries while with the Cardinals around his excellent performance, and I don’t think he compiled enough stats or had enough of a “wow” factor to earn the distinction. Still, making the ballot at all is a pretty significant honour, and one that I’m sure the former first round pick of the Blue Jays will always cherish.