This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Earlier this month, the Marlins called up a player to the Majors for the first time in his career on six consecutive days. Each time the newcomer spoke to media, he waxed poetic on how he learned of his call to The Show.
The mastermind behind those stories is Triple-A Jacksonville manager David Carpenter, who was a big league pitcher for six seasons. His motivation to deliver memorable callups stems from his own experience.
In 2011, as a member of the Astros’ organization, Carpenter saw how big of a deal it was when a teammate got told the life-changing news. A couple days later, Carpenter was in the shower when he heard the hotel room phone ring. He hopped out and was told by his roommate to call the manager back.
“He literally said, ‘Hey, congrats, you're going to the big leagues’ and hung up,” Carpenter recalled. “It really kind of shocked me. I thought there'd be a little more to it. It was my first time getting called up, and it just felt pretty cold, honestly. And I thought to myself, ‘This is definitely not what I thought this was going to be like.’
“It didn't set in until later, and I thought, ‘You know what? That kind of stunk. I hope if I ever get the opportunity to let somebody know they're going to the big leagues, I want to make it special. I want to make it memorable. I want it to be something special for them to be able to tell their family about, to share it with their family or share with somebody that's special to them.’”
Carpenter has had 22 chances to do so since taking over as Jacksonville’s manager in 2025, starting with infielder Ronny Simon in April of that year and most recently left-hander Robby Snelling this month.
Coming up with ideas means Carpenter gathering input from the position coaches that work most with the player. They always make sure the message is delivered in an authentic way catered to the player’s personality or whatever the setting presents.
When infielder Jack Winkler got the call, his parents were visiting Gwinnett, Ga. Carpenter asked to meet them and surprised the entire family.
When Agustín Ramírez got the call, Carpenter asked about the catcher’s young daughter since he often talked about her. Under the guise of finding out whether she looked more like mom or dad, Carpenter told Ramírez while on FaceTime with his family the following:
“I need you to tell her that daddy's going to be a big leaguer,” Carpenter said.
Though Carpenter is the messenger, it’s a team effort with a line of communication that starts from the top -- think president of baseball operations Peter Bendix or general manager Gabe Kapler -- and eventually gets relayed to a five-man team in Jacksonville.
Since Carpenter also serves as the team’s first-base coach, he might be busy on the field when someone needs to be notified. Others keep him updated on the happenings of the Major League club. In the case of a short start, for example, the Jumbo Shrimp would save a pitcher for a possible promotion.
That’s when the wheels start turning for Carpenter.
“This needs to be memorable, because these guys have fought their entire lives to get to this opportunity and to get to experience this and share it with people that helped get them there,” Carpenter said. “I think it's super, super special. Those are the moments you want to share with people. You want them to be able to remember for the rest of their life.”
Carpenter hasn’t had any of his schemes spoiled, but audibles need to be made from time to time when a late call arrives and the team has already left the clubhouse.
Such was the case a couple of weeks ago when Dax Fulton headed home in preparation for his morning start the following day. Since Fulton’s place was close to the ballpark, Carpenter and pitching coach Jerad Eickhoff -- both still in full uniform -- surprised Fulton in his living room with help from roommate Bradley Blalock.
Once logistics have been handled for the player getting called up, those still in Triple-A experience the joy of watching the debut from afar. The Jumbo Shrimp crowded around the clubhouse TV to watch Fulton and righty Josh Ekness’ first pitches. They did the same for lefty Patrick Monteverde’s outing in Philadelphia last year.
“He's getting called up, but it's almost like they get to realize the dream together, because they're truly pulling for each other, and that's a special, special thing,” Carpenter said.
“It's just special, because literally 24 hours ago that guy was in our clubhouse. He was in there, just playing cards or joking about something. To get to see one of your guys go up there and succeed is really, really cool.”