Toronto homecoming extra special for Quantrill

TORONTO -- Almost eight years separated Cal Quantrill’s two most recent appearances on the mound at Rogers Centre.

When the 24-year-old right-hander took the hill Saturday for his fourth Major League start in the Padres' 19-4 drubbing of the Blue Jays, he was in familiar territory.

As a 16-year-old, the Padres' No. 10 prospect suited up for the Canadian Junior National Team at the stadium, sharing the mound that his father Paul, a former big league, had once called home. Cal spent time in the building as a kid, during his dad’s six seasons with the Blue Jays, and more recently when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2015 while Paul was working in Toronto’s baseball operations department.

“It’s definitely unique,” Quantrill said. “Not that many Canadian-born baseball players make it, and then on top of that, not very many get the opportunity to come play at home, so it’s cool. It was exciting.”

Growing up north of the border -- in nearby Port Hope, Ont. -- Quantrill understood that his passion for baseball wasn’t necessarily shared with all those around him, which made his appearance in Toronto that much more special.

“It was fun to play in front of 20,000 people [for whom] maybe baseball wasn’t always their favourite sport, because that’s how it is here,” he said. “But being Canadian, you can still go out and play this if you want. I definitely saw lots of friends and family -- and some of the younger guys who I don’t think have been to a baseball game -- all very excited about a baseball game, so that was all very cool, and pretty unique, too.”

Quantrill is one of several young Canadian players who are just beginning to make their marks in the Majors. He was joined on the Padres roster for the series in Toronto by Josh Naylor, San Diego’s No. 9 prospect and a native of nearby Mississauga, Ont.

After their game ended Saturday, 21-year-old Braves rookie phenom Mike Soroka -- a native of Calgary, Alb., -- continued his historic start to the season in St. Louis, where 23-year-old British Columbia-born Tyler O’Neill has made an impression. The weekend also saw 26-year-old Vancouver flamethrower Rowan Wick make his season debut for the Cubs.

“It’s a younger wave now,” Quantrill said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The older players paved the way and have proven over and over again on a big scale that [Canadians] can win against pretty much anybody.

“This younger group is looking to take the reins, as much as we can and as much as we’re allowed and as much as they want us. We want to be a part of it and continue that tradition of really plus-baseball at the highest level. That’s the goal.”

Though Quantrill was optioned to Triple-A El Paso on Sunday morning, the right-hander believes that he has found a level of consistency this season that got him to the Majors, and will bring him back again.

“The hardest part in professional baseball in general is all the ups and downs,” he said. “It’s a long season. You’re not going to be perfect every single game, but [I'm] trying not to make too big of adjustments back and forth.

“You don’t need to flip the script every time something goes good or bad, regardless of what people say, media say, we say, I say. Sometimes you just have to look at it on a big scale and say, 'OK, that was a blip on the radar. We’re going to be fine. Stick to the process and let it work out.' I’ve done a much better job of that over the last year, and that’s what has gone well.”

Saturday’s start in Quantrill’s home away from home certainly went well for the righty. He allowed three runs on just two hits with a career-high nine strikeouts over six innings in his first quality start in the big leagues.

“It was definitely [Cal’s] best day in the big leagues so far,” Padres manager Andy Green told MLB.com. “His stuff’s good -- good enough to pitch here. We have a lot of confidence, as time moves on, that he’s going to be a big part of what we do. He’s going to pitch in big games for us.”

Quantrill’s performance earned him his first Major League victory, a memory he will not soon relinquish.

“The debut I’ll always remember,” he said. “But the first win I’m never going to forget either. So I had a debut, and then a home debut, and now I had a home home debut.”