carpenter taken by cardinals in 12th round

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – David Carpenter was playing cards with his mother and girlfriend when the St. Louis Cardinals called to inform him that he was selected in the 12th round of today’s Major League baseball first-year player draft.

“Our game stopped right then,” laughed Carpenter.

Now the bigger game starts for Carpenter this afternoon.

“St. Louis has a great history and a great organization,” said Carpenter. “They are not only interested in developing your skills, but they are also interested in developing you as a person.”

The junior was the 15th player selected by the Cardinals and the 24th catcher taken during Tuesday’s draft, which culminated after the 18th round. He was the 376th player picked overall.
“I told everyone that I wanted to go in the top 15 rounds so I can’t complain,” Carpenter said.

The Fairmont, W.Va., resident was the only West Virginia University player picked today, although outfielder Stan Posluszny and pitcher Levi Maxwell could be selected tomorrow when the draft resumes at noon and lasts 50 rounds.

Carpenter says he wasn’t surprised that St. Louis had a beat on him.

“I had a lot of contact with them and my workout with them went really well,” he said. “I was impressed with their professionalism.”

Carpenter, an outstanding defensive catcher, boosted his draft stock this spring by hitting .316 with seven home runs and 38 RBI in 58 games for the Mountaineers. In three seasons at WVU he hit 12 home runs and 17 doubles while driving in 65 runs. Defensively, Carpenter threw out 17 of 36 base stealers this season while also picking off 13 runners.

“We’re real happy for David,” said West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant. “Catching is in such short supply from professional baseball all the way down to the Little Leagues. This says a lot for our program to have a player like David who wasn’t drafted out of high school be picked in the 12th round, and it says a lot for all of the hard work David has done to get to this point.”

“The opportunity to play professional baseball has always been a dream of mine,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter becomes the 23rd player recruited by Van Zant to go in the draft, and he’s the highest WVU player taken since outfielder Jarod Rine was picked in the ninth round by the Baltimore Orioles in 2003. Carpenter becomes the 56th WVU player selected since the Major League began drafting players back in 1965.

Carpenter said the Cardinals will meet with him Thursday to begin contract negotiations.