Baseball time returns to Jacksonville.
A reshaped roster and a renovated ballpark await the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and their fans entering Tuesday night's home opener in the Triple-A International League against the Worcester Red Sox.
The first pitch flies at 7:05 p.m., preceded by the three-hour Opening Day street carnival along Georgia Street in the Jumbo Shrimp's fifth season after making the jump to Triple-A.
Tuesday marks the official debut of the Jumbo Shrimp's new right field building and several other updates to the grounds and the first of 75 home dates to be packed with ballpark flavors and offbeat promotions.
It's also a fresh start for a new-look roster in Jacksonville and first-year manager David Carpenter, who takes charge of a collection of Miami Marlins prospects in a farm system that jumped from No. 29 to No. 16 in the 2025 MLB.com prospect rankings.
"We're not going to cookie-cutter things," said Carpenter during the club's preseason Media Day. "We're going to really try to develop these guys personally to allow them to have the most success possible."
New man in charge
The 39-year-old Carpenter, who takes over at the helm after Daren Brown directed the Jumbo Shrimp for two seasons, brings not-so-distant big league experience to the First Coast.
A former relief pitcher, Carpenter appeared in 222 games in Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers.
Most recently, he had spent two seasons in charge of the West Virginia Black Bears of the MLB Draft League.
Carpenter pointed to the influence of managers like Fredi Gonzalez, formerly of the Marlins and the Braves, with shaping his approach to the game.
"They understood that the process is not easy and this game is not easy," Carpenter said. "So having the patience to be able to deal with guys going through some struggles and trying to show them some grace along the way, it's really important to me to try to impart that on this group and make them as successful as we can."
How will ballpark changes affect play?
