Audio: Quantrill discusses first start in Toronto, Naylor talks MLB debut
Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) will be the starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Saturday.
May 25, 2019
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) will start for the San Diego Padres against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
It will mark the 24-year-old right-hander’s fourth major league start and though he’s pitching against the hometown Blue Jays, there will be a large cheering section of family and friends for the Canadian rookie. Quantrill recently spoke about what it will be like to pitch at Rogers Centre in front of friends and family.
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Canadian Cal Quantrill talks about his first start in Toronto (courtesy Padres media relations).
Quantrill is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 15 innings in his first three big league starts. Selected eighth overall by the Padres in the 2016 draft, the rookie right-hander is in his fourth professional season after a successful collegiate career at Stanford.
His father, Paul, who will be in attendance on Saturday, was an all-star right-hander who enjoyed a 14-year big league career from 1992 to 2005 in which he pitched in a Canadian record 841 games.
Naylor makes MLB debut with Padres
Former Ontario Blue Jay and Junior National Team alum Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) made his big league with the Padres against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday.
Former Ontario Blue Jay and Junior National Team alum Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) made his big league with the Padres against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday. The left-handed hitting slugger went 0-for-4 while batting sixth as the club’s designated hitter.
Naylor spoke to the media before the game about what it would be like to make his major league debut in Toronto.
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Canadian Josh Naylor talks to the media prior to his MLB debut (courtesy Padres media relations).
Now in his fifth professional season, the 21-year-old Naylor had a .299/.378/.538 slash line and 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 45 games with the triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas this season prior to his promotion.
The 10th Canadian to suit up in the major leagues this season, Naylor was a first-round pick (12th overall) of the Miami Marlins in 2015. The 5-foot-11, 250-pound Canuck spent one year in the Marlins’ organization before he was swapped to the Padres on July 29, 2016 as part of a seven-player deal.
Naylor has excelled in his four seasons in the Padres’ organization. Last season with the double-A San Antonio Missions, he batted .297 with 17 home runs and 74 RBIs in 128 games. In all, in parts of five minor league seasons, he owns a .286/.349/.438 slash line and has belted 53 home runs.