C’s Chat – 2024 Vancouver Canadians RHP #28 Irv Carter
The off-season C’s Chats continue with 2024 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Irv Carter.
Born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, Irv Carter IV is following the footsteps of his great-grandfather Edward Ellerbe who was a catcher in the Negro Leagues. Carter started playing basketball and baseball growing up in Boynton Beach before deciding to ditch the hardwood when he was 11. He honed his game with the Jupiter Hammerheads travel ball team and Elite Squad Baseball, a national travel baseball organization when he was 13 years old.
Beginning his high school career as a 14-year-old, Carter attended Trinity Christian Academy in Lake Worth in 2017, winning his lone decision while striking out 13 batters and walking nine in 11 innings. He earned Florida 2A All-District Team honours in 2018 after going 6-2 with a 3.28 ERA and a 47-20 strikeout/walk total in 32 innings with the Warriors. Carter transferred to Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale in 2019 where he teamed up with future Philadelphia Phillies prospect Andrew Painter to form a strong one-two punch in the Eagles rotation. Carter won seven of eight decisions with a 1.26 ERA and a 79-25 K/BB mark and was named to the Florida 4A All-District Team and was a First Team All-American. Later that year, he was named to the Team USA 17U National Team Development Program.
In 2020, Carter only pitched 8-1/3 innings with Calvary in 2020 due to the pandemic but he kept busy by taking part in the Area Code Games and East Coast Pro showcase. The highlight of the year was being selected as one of the Top 50 high school players in America as he received an invite to the Perfect Game All-American Classic in Oklahoma City. Carter was no stranger to Perfect Game as he was selected to nine PG All-Tournament teams since 2017.
Another thrill for Carter was being recognized on Twitter by former 2012 Vancouver Canadians pitcher Marcus Stroman, the ex-Toronto Blue Jay who was with the New York Mets at the time. Stroman tipped his cap to Carter for the latter’s strut off the mound after a strikeout at Calvary Christian.
In 2021, Carter completed his high school baseball resume with a 5-2 record, a 1.87 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP over 48-2/3 innings, racking up 81 punchouts against 16 walks. Heading into the MLB Draft, Baseball Americastated there was “a good chance that Carter is the best No. 2 high school arm in the country as the teammate of fellow 2021 righthander Andrew Painter”. The Phillies selected Painter with the 13th overall pick but Carter had to wait a bit before hearing his name called. Baseball America rated Carter as the 98th-best prospect in the draft, but his name was not called within the first 100 picks.
Having verbally committed to the University of Miami at 14 years old, Carter was drafting a letter to indicate he was going to play for the Hurricanes. That’s when Carter’s father told him his advisor was talking to a couple of teams who wanted to draft him. It was with the 152nd pick in the fifth round that the Toronto Blue Jays called out Carter’s name, and MLB Network was there to broadcast the moment. The Jays convinced Carter to forego heading to the University of Miami by giving him a signing bonus of $850,000, nearly $500,000 more than the slot value for pick 152.
Signed by scout Manny Padron, Carter split his 2022 rookie season with the Florida Complex League and the Dunedin Blue Jays. After a tough beginning, Carter settled in by spinning a pair of five-inning shutout appearances against the FCL Tigers. He allowed just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts on August 2 before yielding just one hit and striking out six Tigers on August 9. The latter outing was Carter’s first win as a pro and also his first Pitcher of the Week honour in the FCL. He was promoted to Low-A Dunedin to finish out the season. Ringing up 53 batters against 15 walks in 47-2/3 innings, Baseball America ranked Carter as Toronto’s 14th-best prospect in its minor league system.
“Evaluators love Carter’s fierce and fiery mentality on the mound, earning the bulldog label from many. A three-pitch mix led by a low-90s fastball, that’s touched 96 mph, with spin rates in the 2,500-2,600 rpm range, Carter mixes in a split-changeup that has gotten plus grades from scouts, and a newly developed slider in the low 80s that has replaced a 12-6 curveball he used as an underclassman. Despite an intriguing pitch mix, Carter comes with question marks around his ability to start due to an extremely high-effort operation that features a pronounced head whack. Despite the explosive violence in his operation, he shows athleticism and control of his big frame often messing with timing, with Johnny Cueto-like pauses. An exciting young arm talent with starting pitcher upside but a very high level of reliever risk. If Carter can iron out his mechanics and continue to throw his three-pitch mix for strikes he has a shot to develop as a starter long term.”
The 2023 season was a tough one for Carter. He began the year on the injured list. In an interview with Bird’s Eye View podcast, Carter says the absence was due to lat and forearm injuries. After returning in May, his best stretch of the year came in early June when he earned his first professional hold by tossing three shutout innings with three strikeouts at Clearwater on June 4. Carter then pitched 4-2/3 shutout innings with two strikeouts against four walks at Bradenton on June 11. Unfortunately, walks were a big problem as Carter handed out 31 free passes in 37-2/3 innings while whiffing 30.
Things turned around for Carter with Dunedin in 2024 as he made the transition from starter to full-time reliever. He collected just his second professional win with three shutout innings and three strikeouts in his first outing on April 6. He celebrated a homecoming of sorts when he pitched against the Jupiter Hammerheads, the same name of his squad in Little League. Carter had pitched against Jupiter twice before but those games were in Dunedin. He struck out five batters over three innings in his Roger Dean Stadium debut at Jupiter on April 27. Though his ERA was at 4.73 at the end of April, Carter would chop it down with a 3.21 May, a 2.70 June and a 2.13 July.
Carter was called up to Vancouver on July 31 and made his C’s debut versus Tri-City on August 2. In his third outing, Carter showed off his electric repertoire by allowing just one hit and fanning four batters in 1-1/3 innings against Eugene on August 11. He finished up a win at Spokane with two strikeouts in a shutout ninth inning on August 16. Carter’s first hold with the C’s came at a win at Spokane on August 16 and his first win in a Vancouver uniform came against Everett with three innings of one-run ball and one strikeout on August 22. He enjoyed a stretch of six scoreless outings out of seven before a rough season finale shot his ERA with the C’s up by more than two-and-a-half runs from his 3.24 mark.
Carter was on the 2024 postseason roster for the Canadians, but he did not see any action during the Northwest League Championship Series against Spokane.
Chances are Carter will return to Vancouver for the 2025 season where he looks to build on an overall successful 2024 in which he finished with a 7-1 record, a 3.80 ERA and 78 punchouts over 73-1/3 innings with Dunedin and Vancouver.
C’s Plus Baseball spoke with the now 22-year-old Carter during the team’s late-August homestand against Everett. This interview has been edited for clarity.
C’s Plus Baseball – How did you get started in baseball?
Irv Carter – I started playing baseball at the age of seven. I was in the backyard with my godfather and my cousins. We started playing wiffle ball and my godfather was like, ‘Hey man, we gotta get this guy into baseball,’ and that’s kind of really started everything from there.
CPB – Taking it up to the draft, you and your draft party were shown on MLB Network. What was that whole scene like?
IC – It was something else, man. It was something else. I had a feeling I was going to go on day two, just with the rankings and stuff when it came out with the draft. But, you know, it was great. I had a lot of family members and a lot of friends there. A lot of my trainers and coaches were there. So it was an awesome moment. I was very nervous, you know. I was very, very close to going to my dream school, which was the University of Miami at that time. But I’m really glad I made the decision to go with the Jays. I’m glad they got me at that pick so that was really dope.
IC – How did it all start with MLB Network getting in touch with you? Was that a really long process, getting everything arranged?
IC – I know they contacted some reporters in the Fort Lauderdale area, because I know they had the Sunset, and that’s our newspaper back home in the Fort Lauderdale area. So I guess they collaborated and then met up at my draft party meeting. But it was cool just to capture that great moment with everyone, and I could watch that for years to come now, so it was pretty awesome.
CPB – As you mentioned, you had a chance to go to Miami and that it was a really tough decision for you at first but you decided to turn pro. How tough was that?
IC – Yeah, it was super tough. I was blessed to commit to U-M in the eighth grade. That’s always been my dream school. I was always set on going there, but I’ve always worked tremendously hard and trimmed my butt off since the age of 12, man. I just felt that with all the work I put in and the mindset I also had at that age, I just felt like I didn’t need three years of development at the college level. I felt like I was ready to turn pro at that age and get that experience and, you know, just to be a pro athlete at 18-years-old and just to mature and do all those kinds of fun things. I don’t regret my decision one bit. I do miss those guys a lot at U-M, but for sure I made the right pick.
CPB – When did you start to become a pitcher full-time?
IC – I started out playing third base and then I transitioned into catching because I just loved the action, just every single play. And then I always just had a really good arm just growing up, so I was catching and pitching. My longtime trainer, (former Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs pitcher) Ramón Morel, trained me to be a catcher and a pitcher. When I committed to U-M, I was still catching and pitching at 14, and then I fully went into pitching at around 16 years old.
CPB – Did you feel being a catcher kind of helps give you a unique perspective on how you work with your catchers?
IC – 1,000 percent. I feel catcher-pitcher relationships are very pivotal. I learned that from a young age, just to be the catcher that every pitcher wants to throw to and just doing anything to make your pitcher feel comfortable. If that’s blocking an 0-2 pitch when there’s no guys on base, or having a 2-0 timeout to go talk about this next at-bat, you know? Just the little things I picked up as a catcher when I became a pitcher. I just respected those guys much more.
CPB – You’ve been in Dunedin since you were in the organization before coming up here. You had your struggles but how did you persevere?
IC – The first couple of years with Dunedin, it was tough for sure. Dealing with an injury. I’ve never dealt with being hurt. I had two injuries last year. Since the age of eight, I’ve never really been hurt like that and had time away from the game so that was something I had to adjust and be new to, and really just not playing up to my level, you know? I feel that when anyone has success in baseball, especially success from 9, 10 years old, and to have success for 10-plus years straight, and then just to fall into just a pit of failure, some people don’t know how to really deal with that and I was a victim to that. I didn’t know how to deal with failure, you know? And I think it was a really, really big offseason for me. I moved to St. Louis, Missouri, just kind of lock in there for four-and-a-half months in the Midwest and get away from Florida. And I think it did me really, really good. I’ve had a pretty good year so far. My body’s still feeling good. And it was a big change. The change from starting my whole life to being in the pen, you know? But I glad that the Jays made my transition very easy for me and were very patient with me and my process and my routine and stuff like that. I’m glad everything worked out.
CPB – Speaking of your routine, was there maybe a change you made over the off season? Was it anything mechanical or on the mental side? What were some of the maybe the adjustments you made heading into this year?
IC – I would just say from a mentality standpoint for sure, just getting that confidence back. I feel confidence is almost like a drug and I feel that when you don’t have that confidence on the mound that you’re not yourself. So the first thing I needed to do was just to get my confidence back and know I’m here for a reason and just know like I’m a guy. And I feel the second biggest thing was just getting stronger. I always felt like I was strong, but I wasn’t strong enough. I’m glad I had my trainers in St. Louis. I give a lot of credit to my trainers on just getting me right for those four months and just getting me in the best shape that I could be for the season. Just to have really, really good arm strength, body strength, and just to make sure that I can go out two times a week and feel good and give my team a chance to win.
CPB – When you got the call to Vancouver, was there a funny story involved with that? I’ve heard that José Mayorga and the staff like to kind of have fun with you before they let you know the good news you’re going to Vancouver.
IC – It was funny, man. You know I love those guys a lot—Cory (pitching coach Cory Riordan), (bullpen coach Yoel Hernández), ‘Mayo’, all the guys in Dunedin were just great people. We had a day trip to Daytona so we were leaving from Tampa. It was probably like a three, four-hour drive. And we got to Daytona, I would say, around 2, 3 o’clock. And we were getting off the bus and getting all the bags and the equipment and stuff. And I kind of jammed my left pinky a little bit in one of the boxes. Like it wasn’t like anything serious but I just jammed it a little bit and I was supposed to pitch that day. I went to the training room to see Luke (Luke Greene) and I was like, ‘Hey Luke, can we just kind of put like a just little bandage on that? It’s nothing serious at all but there’s like a little splinter in here.’ So he’s putting it on me and my pitching coach Cory just comes in the room just all aggressive like, ‘Hey Irv! Come here!’ and I’m like, ‘Okay, what did I do? What’s up?’ I get in the manager’s office. All my coaches are there with Bo Bonds as well and he was like, ‘Look, man.’ Because that day (Mayorga) actually named me and Bo Bonds captains of the team and I was like, ‘Man, like that’s a great thing.’ So then we get there and he was like, ‘Look, man. Why did we show up today and you didn’t take things off the bus? I named you to be a captain today.’ And Bo was quiet, I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m not trying to make excuses. Hey Mayo, I do apologize for that. I kind of stubbed my finger a little bit so that’s on me.’ And he was like, ‘Well, you better get that finger fixed before you go to Vancouver.’ And I was like, ‘Man!’, you know? I’m just giving everyone hugs and stuff like that. But they always got to play with me. It was funny, though, but it was a great moment because I’ve been with Mayo since I got drafted. I’ve been with Cory Riordan since I’ve been drafted. To be with those guys for three years and then finally see me go up in the ranks is just a beautiful thing.
CPB – How did you guys make your way out here? Did you fly out from Tampa?
IC – You want the whole story?
CPB – Yeah, sure!
IC – So we were in Daytona. We get told around 1:30. They had a game that day at 6:30, the Low-A team. They were like, ‘Look, we’re gonna have a ride service for you from the game’. It was right before the game started, we left went to the hotel to print out some papers. We drove all the way back to Dunedin. We probably got back to Dunedin around 12 o’clock that night. We had to pack up the whole apartment and we packed up everything. I didn’t sleep that night at all. I was so excited, I didn’t sleep. We had a car service to pick us up around 4:30 (am). It got us to the airport around 5:30, plane left at 7:00. We landed here around maybe 2 or 3 o’clock, had to connect, and then I just got out with the guys and came out for the game. It was just awesome. I mean, that night we sold out. We had a walk-off so it was just a great welcome to Vancouver for me, so that was awesome. It was a great day.
CPB – What’s it been like pitching in Vancouver for you so far in front of the crowds? They don’t get huge crowds in Dunedin.
IC – It’s a different world out here. It’s honestly an honour and a pleasure to play for these fans. They love the game. I didn’t think they cared, you know, as much about baseball as they do. It’s rocking here every night. It’s such a pleasure to play here. The energy is unmatched. I mean, I’ve never played such meaningful baseball in my life and I’ve played on Team USA and prospect teams, All-American teams, but this doesn’t even compare. I mean, just to have the guys that we have in the locker room, every guy’s a great guy. All the coaches are great. All the trainers want to see you do better. They all have programs directly for you. I can’t ask for anything else. The city’s amazing. The baseball’s great. The weather’s awesome. I’m a big Vancouver fan for sure.
CPB – I want to just talk about your pitch mix. What is that you’re throwing right now?
IC – Right now, I’m throwing a cutter, a sinker, a slider and a changeup. I kind of added the cutter this year. Last year, I was primarily four-seam (fastball)-slider-changeup. In the off-season, I wanted to get something going more into batters and going away from guys instead of working from top to bottom. So I added my sinker. I added the cutter, I love that pitch to death. And then my changeup, I changed it to a four-seam change of grip. My coach here ABD (C’s pitching coach Austin Bibens-Dirkx) has done a really, really good job with me, and same as Carson (bullpen coach Carson Phillips), on just maturing my grip and maturing that pitch to be like what it is right now. I’m really happy the way it’s moving. And then my slider has always been pretty good. So I really, really feel good with all of my four pitches. I could throw all four for strikes and so I’m in a pretty good groove right now with those four.
CPB – You added a cutter. Did anyone teach you that or is it something you figured out by yourself?
IC – The org wanted me to start throwing cutters in the offseason and I really wasn’t on it. I was like, ‘You know what? I like it, but this could be my fourth pitch.’ I get to spring training, and I’m really not throwing it like that. And it was funny. I was pitching versus the Phillies. It was like my first spring training game. And I’m just throwing my regular mix, my four-seam/slider/changeup. I throw a four-seamer and it gets banged out of the yard. Right when he hit the homer, I just got visions from last year and I was like, ‘You know what? We’re not gonna have the same thing as last year. Let’s adapt, let’s buy in and let’s just get to work.’ And I started throwing my cutter the very next pitch and I struck out the side and I was like, ‘You know? This could maybe be a pretty good pitch.’ But at that time, it wasn’t a real cutter. I was trying to throw it like a cutter but it wasn’t cutting as I wanted but it was still moving. This season, I’ve just been perfecting it and finally found a grip that works for me. So I feel like I finally got that pitch like mid-season, I finally kind of perfected that pitch. Now I could throw it any count 2-0, 0-2, it doesn’t matter, so that’s kind of like my bread and butter.
CPB – I just want to ask you about Player Development Complex. I don’t know if you’re a big analytics or numbers guy, but was there maybe anything you learned about yourself and the way you pitch?
IC – Yeah, that place is a wonderland, man. I mean, there’s not one thing that you don’t want to work on that they don’t have in supply for you. They have everything that you can think of. You know, I respect the analytical game. I think for me, I just want to just know a few things about myself and, you know, work on that to the best I can. And when it came to my pitching. I was drafted, you know, with a high (arm) slot and, you know, like I’m not big on vert (vertical pitch movement), but like I was averaging like 20, 22 inches of vert when I was drafted. And over the years, I kind of dropped my slot up a little bit. So with me dropping my side, I was still trying to get that 20, 22 inches of vert. And it just wasn’t happening for me and I couldn’t figure out why because I was trying to chase this vision of I want to throw my high heater in the zone at 20 like every single time. With my angle the way it was dropping, I just wasn’t that guy anymore to get that type of vert. So I had to learn that and put my ego to the side and be like, ‘All right, I can be a sinker guy, I can be this type of guy.’ So I think just learning my body and learning how my arm was moving and learning my strength as a pitcher. Once I kind of bought into that and just learned fully about the pitches I can throw and how to throw them. Just buying into that, I think, just made me a better pitcher overall.
CPB – Well, I really enjoy watching you pitch.
IC – Thank you.
CPB – Especially when you get strikeouts. You show a lot of swagger on the mound. I read somewhere you’re a big Marcus Stroman fan.
IC – Yeah, for sure. That’s my guy, Stroman. I don’t like to be a robot on the mound, man. I’ll work my ass off to be here. I worked tremendously hard in the off-season and in-season. In big moments, I mean, if we have 6,000 people in the crowd and I get a punchie and it’s a 3-2 ballgame, like, I’m gonna be hyped, you know what I’m saying? Like, I’m gonna be proud of what I did and what my team is doing at the moment, you know? It doesn’t come out of bad blood at all. I know maybe some guys on the other side get a little emotional and stuff like that. I don’t really care. You know, I pitch the way I pitch. I know my guys on my team feed off it, you know, and I know the right moments to do it. But it just comes out of love and passion for the game of baseball because if I wasn’t passionate, then I wouldn’t be here.
CPB – Okay. Final couple of questions. Did you have a favourite major league team team growing up?
IC – It was the Yankees but I’m not going to say it’s the Yankees (now). It’s the Blue Jays. I mean, growing up, I think every kid’s dream growing up is to play for the Yankees. But you know, when time goes on, I’m just like, ‘Man, I want to kill these guys in New York.’ Just take it down their throats, you know what I’m saying? But I think now the goal is to beat everyone in that East Division for sure.
CPB – The final question. The Canadians have five different uniforms—red, black, white, blue and gray. Do you have a favourite?
IC – I like the blues. The blues are kind of swaggy because we have those throwback hats, so those are kind of wavy.
Irv Carter File
Born – October 9, 2002 in Freehold, New Jersey.
Height/Weight – 6-foot-4, 210 pounds.
Bats/Throws – Right/Right.
Uniform Numbers – Wore number 54 with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays and number 15 with the Dunedin Blue jays in 2022. Wore number 48 with Dunedin in 2023. Wore number 16 with Dunedin in 2024.
Professional Debut – June 10, 2022, with the Florida Complex League Blue Jays at FCL Tigers.
First Professional Strikeout – June 10, 2022. Struck out the first batter he faced looking, Carlos Pelegrin.
First Professional Win – August 9, 2022 with the FCL Blue Jays versus the FCL Tigers.
First Professional Save – July 12, 2024 with the Dunedin Blue Jays versus the Tampa Tarpons.
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