Carlos Quentin

Carlos Quentin
Quentin with the Padres
San Diego Padres – No. 18
Left fielder
Born: (1982-08-28) August 28, 1982 Bellflower, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 20, 2006 for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Career statistics (through May 15, 2013)
Batting average	.251
Home runs	141
Runs batted in	442
Hits	618
Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks (2006–2007) Chicago White Sox (2008–2011) San Diego Padres (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (2008, 2011) Silver Slugger Award winner (2008)

Carlos José Quentin (born August 28, 1982) is an American outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball . In 2008 and in 2011, Quentin was selected as an All-Star.

Early career

Quentin attended Saint Pius X Elementary School (Chula Vista, California). Before Quentin went on to be a professional baseball player, he already had an outstanding sports career in both high school and college. At University of San Diego High School, he was a three-sport star, excelling in baseball, football, and basketball. He led his baseball team to two Western League Championships, while setting a record at the school with 28 home runs and 119 RBIs.

In football his senior year, he was selected First Team All-County, All-CIF, and All-Western League, and was named Western League Defensive Player of the Year as an outside linebacker. He also captured two league and two section titles. In addition, he participated on the 1997 high school state championship team in basketball. He was named the San Diego Male Athlete of the Year in 2000. Aside from sports, he was on his school honor roll. He then went on to Stanford University, where he excelled even more.

College

His Stanford career was exceptional; he was named All Pac-10 the three seasons he played (freshman, sophomore and junior). He was honored by Baseball America magazine all three seasons as well. He was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2001. In his junior season (2003), he was named Third Team All-American by the NCBWA and was one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. He played alongside future major leaguers, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Sam Fuld and Oakland Athletics middle infielder Jed Lowrie.

Quentin helped lead the Cardinal to postseason appearances all three years of his collegiate career, culminating in a 2-for-2, 2-RBI performance in Stanford's 2003 College World Series Championship Series Game 3 loss to Rice University. He finished his Stanford career with a .350 batting average, 35 home runs, 170 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases in 199 games played for the Cardinal.

He married his college sweetheart Jeane Goff, an All-American track runner from Stanford.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Quentin was Arizona's second first round pick of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, selected 29th overall. He sat out that year after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow (a rare procedure for non-pitchers). Once recovered, he quickly became part of a talented core of young Diamondbacks prospects.

Quentin set a minor-league record in 2004 when he was hit by a pitch 43 times. That season, he led all Arizona minor league players in batting (.332), RBIs (91), runs (103), hits (157), and walks (69), numbers that were divided between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A El Paso. He also starred on a TV show chronicling the life of a minor leaguer with Chris Young and Dustin Nippert.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Quentin in 2007 on the field with the Phillie Phanatic.

2006

Quentin was hitting .289 with 30 doubles, three triples, nine homers and 52 RBIs in 85 games for the Tucson Sidewinders when he was called up to the Diamondbacks on July 20, 2006; after grounding out in his first two major league at bats, Quentin hit a two-run home run off Mark Hendrickson in the sixth inning of Arizona's 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. His arrival was long anticipated by Diamondbacks fans; he was expected to replace Shawn Green as the everyday right fielder for the Diamondbacks once Green retired or otherwise left the team. Green was traded to the New York Mets in August, clearing the way for Quentin to become a full-time starter. Quentin would finish the 2006 season with a .253 batting average, 9 home runs, and 32 RBIs in 57 games for the Diamondbacks.

2007

He began the 2007 season on the disabled list when he was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left labrum during Spring Training. He made his season debut on April 16 against the Dodgers and finished 2-for-4 with two doubles. After producing disappointing results through the first half of the season (.210, 5 HR, 28 RBIs in 66 games), Quentin was demoted to Triple-A on July 6.

Chicago White Sox

Quentin batting on July 23, 2008.

On December 3, 2007, Quentin was traded to the Chicago White Sox for minor league first baseman Christopher Carter. Carter played for the low Class A Kannapolis Intimidators in 2007, and was considered one of the White Sox' best prospects.

2008

In 2008, Quentin was a huge surprise for the White Sox, emerging to become one of the team's best hitters. Through August 18, he was ranking among American League leaders in home runs (first, 35), slugging percentage (third, .586), OPS (third, .981), and runs batted in (third, 96). Quentin's strong season drew calls for a possible AL MVP award. After Quentin hit his 35th HR in a 13-5 rout of the Mariners on August 18, White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski said, "As far as I'm concerned, Quentin has been the American League MVP."

White Sox fans bestowed the nickname "TCQ," standing for "The Carlos Quentin." The name originated from a quote from GM Ken Williams after he acquired Quentin. He said, "We wanted to upgrade at shortstop, get a setup guy for the bullpen, acquire Carlos Quentin, and not a guy like him but actually Carlos Quentin."

Quentin's other local nickname is "Q-uperman." The "Q-uperman" sign, depicting Quentin as Superman with an "Q" on his chest, was shown many times on the Jumbotron at the park, and even received mention in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and on ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

Due to Jim Thome's slow start, manager Ozzie Guillén promoted the red-hot Quentin up the batting order into Thome's customary third spot for one game against the Angels in Anaheim. Quentin delivered a key eighth-inning grand slam, breaking a 1-1 tie, and kicked off a run that saw the White Sox win 10 of 12 games and charge to first place. He stayed in the 3rd spot in the order thereafter. During a nationally televised home game on May 25, Quentin clocked two home runs off of the Angels' John Lackey and drove in all of the White Sox runs in a 3-2 walk-off victory. His towering home runs drew comparisons to sluggers such as José Canseco and Luis Gonzalez. Angels center fielder Torii Hunter characterized his pure power as "tremendous pop, like Hulk Hogan. He's crazy strong."

Quentin injured his wrist after slamming his bat with his wrist in frustration after fouling off a pitch in Cleveland. On September 5, 2008, it was reported that Quentin had a fractured wrist and would undergo surgery, missing the rest of the season.

Quentin finished the year with a .288 average, 36 home runs, 100 RBI, and a .394 on-base percentage in 130 games. Defensively, in 2008 he had the lowest fielding percentage of all starting AL left fielders, .971. Even though he missed the last month of the season, Quentin was awarded his first Silver Slugger Award.

Quentin finished fifth in the balloting for AL MVP, behind Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis, and Joe Mauer.

2009

Quentin played well at the start of the 2009 season but he hit a slump after suffering from plantar fasciitis which hampered his swing. He was forced to miss several games in May as a result of the injury and was eventually placed on the 15-day disabled list at the end of the month. He was activated again on July 21, 2009, against the Tampa Bay Rays. He went 1-4 in his return.

In 2009 he was named #40 on the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, was polled to arrive at the list.

2010

Quentin was mired in a batting slump for a good portion of the first half of the season. On June 13, he was hitting .201 with 8 homers through 55 games. He began turning things around with a late-June hot streak which coincided with a White Sox 11-game win streak, hitting four homers and raising his OPS from .681 to .781. In early July, Quentin had a two-home run game against the Los Angeles Angels followed shortly by back-to-back two-homer games on July 10 and 11 against the Kansas City Royals, including a grand slam in the second game. Carlos Quentin entered the 2010 All-Star break batting .244 with a .867 OPS, 19 home runs and 61 RBIs, placing him among the American League leaders in both home runs and RBIs. He finished the season hitting .243 with 26 homers and 87 RBIs.

2011

Quentin was selected to his second All-Star Game as a reserve after posting an .852 OPS in the first half.

Quentin sprained his left shoulder making a diving catch on August 20 and only made two more plate appearances in 2011. Quentin finished the season batting .254 with 24 home runs and 77 RBIs. He drew 34 walks, posted a .499 slugging percentage, and had a career high 31 doubles through 118 games.

In 2011, Quentin led the major leagues in being hit by pitch, with 23.

San Diego Padres

On December 31, 2011, Quentin was traded from the White Sox to his home town San Diego Padres for Simón Castro and Pedro Hernandez.

2012

Quentin opened the 2012 season on the disabled list after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus in March. He made his Padres debut on May 28, regularly batting in the clean-up position and playing left field or acting as DH in interleague games.

On July 22, 2012, Quentin agreed to a three-year, $27 million contract extension through 2015 with a $10 million mutual option for 2016, including a no-trade clause. "This is an amazing opportunity to stay and play in the city I grew up in." said Quentin.

Quentin's right knee began to bother him in September, and he only played in the field once after September 10th. He had another arthroscopic surgery on the right knee after the season ended. Quentin played in a total of 86 games and finished the season batting .261/.374/.504 with 16 home runs in 284 at-bats. Despite playing only half a season, he once again lead the league in being hit by pitch, setting a Padres season record with 17.

2013

On April 11, 2013 in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Quentin was hit in the shoulder by a pitch thrown by Zack Greinke. After being hit by the pitch, Quentin charged the mound and ignited a bench clearing brawl, in which Greinke suffered a broken collarbone. Quentin was suspended for 8 games for his role in the incident.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Carlos Quentin bio on Stanford Cardinal athletics website
• No. 21 - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005 - Minor League News
• No. 4 - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 - Minor League News
• Game recap 2008/05/25
• Carlos Quentin Scouting Report from Dugout Central