St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter told the team that he plans to make his retirement official, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.
Carpenter missed the 2013 season while trying to come back from thoracic outlet syndrome, which affects nerves in the neck and shoulder area, and he had hinted that he was thinking of walking away from the game.
His career was short-circuited by injuries that ranged from a torn labrum in the shoulder to a torn ulnar-collateral ligament in his right elbow. Carpenter missed all or portions of the 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013 seasons.
When Carpenter was healthy, he was considered one of the best starting pitchers in the game. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2005 and the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2009. He also was named to three All-Star teams.
Carpenter made his major league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 and came to the Cardinals as a free agent in 2002. He has a 144-94 career record (99-44 for the Cardinals) with a 3.76 ERA and 1,697 strikeouts in 2,219 1/3 innings. In the postseason, Carpenter posted a 10-4 record with a 3.00 ERA and played on two World Series champions.