Christopher Michael Carp (born June 30, 1986) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and Texas Rangers.

Professional career

New York Mets

After attending Lakewood High School in Lakewood, California, Carp was drafted by the Mets in the ninth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft (254th overall). He hit 19

Home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in only 313

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s as a 19-year-old playing with the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A (baseball), Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They pl ...

, and won the Sterling Award as Mets organization player of the year following his season with the St. Lucie Mets. In that season he hit .287 (141-491) with 69 runs scored, 27

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s, one triple, 17 home runs and 88

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. In March 2007 he attended Major League

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for the first time, hitting .233 in 43 at bats with the Mets. His season with the Binghamton Mets of the Double-A Eastern League would be somewhat derailed by a broken finger, which he felt affected his swing even after returning from the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. Carp hit .251/.337/.387/.725 (90 for 359, 55 runs, 16 2b, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 39/75 BB/K) with Binghamton. He played with the Scottsdale Scorpions of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

during the fall. Carp enjoyed a great bounceback season in 2008, setting career highs in average, on-base percentage, OPS, doubles, homers, and walks. For the season, Carp hit .299/.403/.471/.874 (143 for 478, 67 runs, 29 2b, 3b, 17 HR, 72 RBI, 79/88 BB/K).

Seattle Mariners

On December 10, , Carp was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team trade which also included RHP

J. J. Putz Joseph Jason Putz (; born February 22, 1977) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. Early life an ...

, RHP Sean Green and OF Jeremy Reed from the Mariners for RHP Aaron Heilman, OF Endy Chávez, LHP Jason Vargas, OF

Ezequiel Carrera Ezequiel Manuel Carrera Reyes (born June 11, 1987) is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, and Toronto Blue ...

and RHP Maikel Cleto and sent RHP Joe Smith to the Indians. He made his major league debut with the Mariners on June 17, 2009, pinch-hitting in a game against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and drawing a walk. He got a hit, a single to center in his first major league start the next day. On September 1, Carp was called up a second time. He went 0 for 4 against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

that same night. On June 8, 2011, Carp was called up to replace outfielder Mike Wilson. He has also served as a replacement at the first base position for starter Justin Smoak. Carp was named the American League Rookie of the Month in August, during which he had a 20-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pl ...

, batting .313 and driving in 25 runs. On September 19, 2011, Carp hit his first grand slam against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Progressive Field Progressive Field is a baseball stadium in the downtown area of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the ballpark of the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball and, together with Rocket Arena, is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. ...

Boston Red Sox

On February 20, 2013, Carp was acquired by the

for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

or cash considerations. He made his Red Sox debut on April 7 versus the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. On June 4, 2013, Carp earned his first career ejection for arguing a strike three call made by

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

Andy Fletcher. On September 11, 2013, Carp hit a go-ahead grand slam to dead center off pitcher Roberto Hernandez of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

to put ahead the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ch ...

and eventually win the game in the 10th inning. Carp served as a backup first baseman, outfielder, and pinch hitter for the 2013 Red Sox, appearing in 86 regular season games and six postseason games as the team won the

2013 World Series The 2013 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 Major League Baseball season, 2013 season. The 109th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (A ...

. On April 24, 2014, in the ninth inning against the Yankees at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

, Carp appeared as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

after the Red Sox had used all their relievers. Carp pitched one inning, allowing five

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

and one earned run. Shortly after the All-Star break, Carp requested that the Red Sox trade him. The request made news after the Red Sox traded veteran pitcher

Jake Peavy Jacob Edward Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who is currently an on-air analyst for MLB Network. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, ...

to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

on July 26. Carp was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on August 1.

Texas Rangers

Carp was claimed on waivers by the Texas Rangers on August 3, 2014. On August 30, the Rangers designated Carp for assignment. He elected free agency in October 2014.

Washington Nationals

On January 13, 2015, Carp signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. He declined a minor league assignment in early April, and became a free agent.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On April 25, 2015, he signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and was assigned to the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

. He had only two hits in 22 at-bats for Oklahoma City and was released on May 7.

Baltimore Orioles

On March 4, 2016, the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

signed Carp to a minor league deal, pending a physical. He was released on April 1, 2016.

New Britain Bees

On July 12, 2019, Carp signed with the

New Britain Bees The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connectic ...

of the independent

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. In 58 games he hit .260/.333/.395 with 6 home runs, 39 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

High Point Rockers

On November 6, 2019, Carp was selected by the High Point Rockers in the

dispersal draft. He did not play a game for the team because of the cancellation of the 2020 ALPB season due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic and became a free agent after the year. On April 6, 2021, Carp re-signed with the Rockers for the 2021 season. However, he did not make the team out of spring and was released prior to the season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carp, Mike 1986 births Living people Seattle Mariners players Boston Red Sox players Texas Rangers players Gulf Coast Mets players Hagerstown Suns players North Shore Honu players Scottsdale Scorpions players St. Lucie Mets players Binghamton Mets players Tacoma Rainiers players High Desert Mavericks players Pawtucket Red Sox players Baseball players from Long Beach, California Major League Baseball first basemen Caribes de Anzoátegui players Oklahoma City Dodgers players New Britain Bees players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Lakewood High School (California) alumni Baseball players from Lakewood, California