Jorge Cantu #3

Jorge Luis Guzman Cantu...Originally signed by Devil Rays scout Rudy Smith...Is a citizen of both Mexico and United States...In 2005, produced a then-club record 117 RBI and named the Devils Rays' MVP by Tampa chapter of BBWAA...Became second Marlin to homer in both games of a doubleheader on May 25, 2008...Part of 2008 Marlins club that was first MLB team to have a starting infield with at least 25 home runs apiece...Established new Major League record by recording a hit and RBI in each of his first 10 games of 2010 season...Including final four games of 2009, the streak exteds to a total of 14 games...Appeared in each round of the 2010 postseason during the Rangers World Series run.

2011

Was designated for assignment by the Padres on 6/16 and released by the Padres on 6/21...cleared unconditional release waivers and became a free agent on 6/23...Had a season-high five-game hitting streak from 4/26-5/2...Started 30 games for San Diego, including 21 at first base and nine at third base...Was 6-for-24 (.250) with a double and two RBI as a pinch-hitter for the Padres...Hit .286 (14-for-49) with two doubles, two home run and 11 RBI in 19 games during the day, against a .147 (14-for-95) average, two doubles, one home run and five RBI in 38 games at night.

2010

Split the season between FLA and TEX after being acquired by the Rangers on 7/29 along with cash considerations in exchange for RHPs Omar Poveda and Evan Reed...Combined to hit .256 (121-for-472) with 11 home runs and 56 RBI in 127 games...Started the season with the Marlins, hitting safely in each of his first 17 games...combined with his final four games of the 2009 season for a career-best 21-game hit streak...tallied at least one RBI in each of his first 10 games of the 2010 season, setting a new Major League record for the beginning of a season...Appeared in three postseason games with the Rangers, one in each series, going 0-for-8 at the plate...marked his first postseason action.

2009

In his second season with Florida, and sixth of his Major League career, batted .289 with 42 doubles, 16 home runs and 100 RBI in 149 games. His 42 doubles marked a new career best and was the 10th highest single season total in club history. He reached the 100 RBI mark for the second time in his career, as he had 117 in 2005...Ranked third on the team with 49 multi-hit games, behind Hanley Ramirez (56) and Chris Coghlan (51). Posted a season-high four hits on September 23 vs. Philadelphia. Also had 12 three-hit games...Named NL Player of the Week for May 3, batting .346 (9x26) with four home runs and 14 RBI in seven games. He led the NL in RBI and total bases (22) while tying for the top spot in home runs...He scored six times while owning a slugging percentage of .846 and an on-base percentage of .433...Homered in the first two games of the season, becoming the fifth Marlin (sixth time) to do so. The others: Derek Lee - 2002, Cliff Floyd - 2001, Eric Owens - 2001 and Jeff Conine -1994 & 95...Was on the front end of back-to-back home runs, April 25 against Philadelphia. Marked the fourth time in the last two seasons he has combined with teammates on consecutive home runs...Hit in a season-best 11 consecutive games from August 9-22, batting .326 over the streak...Of the Marlins 10 walk-off wins, was responsible for four. Had three walk-off hits, along with a walk-off fielders choice. He drove in game-ending runs on April 10 vs. New York, June 23 vs. Baltimore and August 11 vs. Houston. Scored the game-ender with a fielders choice on May 4 vs. Cincinnati. Has six walk-off hits in his career...Tied a career-high for the third time (fifth career) with five RBI on September 12 against Washington. Also posted five RBI May 6 against Atlanta and April 28 at New York...Hit two home runs April 28 at Citi Field, marking the seventh time he has connected for multiple home runs in a game. Tied a career-best with five RBI, last done on July 21, 2006 vs. Baltimore...Finished the season with at least one hit in 40 of his last 49 games, batting .315 (62x197) over that span. Posted a .336 average in September, his highest monthy mark since posting a .343 mark (36x105) in July 2008. The 39 hits also marked a career high for most hits in a month. He previously had 36 in August, 2005...Ranked fourth in the NL in clutch RBI with 52 (33 go-ahead; 19 game-winning). Trailed Ryan Howard (65), Albert Pujols (57) and Prince Fielder (56)...Led MLB with 36 first-inning RBI and was tied for eighth in the National League with 78 RBI in innings 1-6...Batted .310 (93x300) at home, compared to .267 (76x285) on the road. Owned the third-highest home average on the club, behind Hanley Ramirez (.332) and Ross Gload (.333).

2008

Set career highs in games (155), at-bats (628), runs (92), hits (174), doubles (41), home runs (29), walks (40) and strikeouts (111)...led Marlins in at-bats, doubles, RBI, sacrifice flies (7), go-ahead RBI (24), game-winning RBI (12) and RBI with runners in scoring position (64)...his doubles total ranked 10th in the NL while his 24 GA RBI ranked 13th...tied Dan Uggla for second on club with 70 extra-base hits (Ramirez, 71) and was third in runs...Along with Mike Jacobs (32), Hanley Ramirez (33) and Dan Uggla (32), became the first infield in Major League history to record 25-or-more home runs in the same season...Marked a career-best and tied franchise record by driving in at least one run in eight straight games (9/8-19/08)...the other Marlins with eight-game RBI streaks are Mike Lowell and Ivan Rodriguez (2003), Moises Alou (1997) and Gary Sheffield (1994)...had previously driven in at least one run in seven consecutive games, Sept. 19-27, 2005...also marked the second longest streak in club history by recording an extra-base hit in eight consecutive games (9/8-19/08), sitting behind a 10-game streak by Cliff Floyd in July, 2001...Connected for second career grand slam, Sept. 17 vs. Houston...his first career GS came July 21, 2006 vs. Baltimore...hit two home runs in a game two times (June 6 vs. CIN & June 11 vs. PHI), giving him six multi-HR games in his career...Hit safely in a career-best 13 straight games, July 23-Aug. 5, batting .322 (19x59) with six doubles, one home run and four RBI over the streak...Connected for two walk-off hits in '08; game-winning single in the 11th inning, July 20 against Philadelphia and another game-winning single in the 9th inning, June 29 against Arizona...has three game-winning hits in his career...Tallied two four-hit games (July 4 @ COL & July 19 vs. PHI), tying a career high...established a career-high wtih four runs scored, July 4 at Colorado...Homered in both ends of May 25th double-header, going 4x7 with four runs, two home runs and four RBI on the day...teamed with Jeremy Hermida on back-to-back home runs in Game 1...became second Marlin ever to homer in both ends of a doubleheader (Willingham, 2006)...also teamed with Dan Uggla (May 7 vs. MIL) and Jeremy Hermida (July 11 @ LAD)...Owned .937 fielding percentage at third base, committing 20 errors in 317 total chances...posted .993 fielding percentage in 66 games (23 starts) at first base with only two misplays in 276 total chances.

2007

Twenty-five year-old recalled Apr 24 from AAA Durham when Akinori Iwamura was placed on the 15-day DL ... Appeared in 25 games, 14 starts (7-1B, 7-DH) batting .207 with a double and 4 RBI ... Were the first apps at 1B of his ML career ... hit safely in 9 of his 14 starts ... Also made 10 pinch-hit appearances (1-for-8, BB, HB) ... Optioned back to Durham on July 20 when the Rays recalled some bullpen help (RH Jae Kuk Ryu and RH Scott Dohmann) ... Made 4 starts with the Bulls before he was traded to the Cincinnati organization on July 28, along with minor leaguer Shaun Cumberland and cash, in exchange for minor league relievers RH Calvin Medlock and LH Brian Shackelford ... Joined AAA Nashville and hit .309 in 24 games with a pair of home runs and 13 RBI ... Promoted to Reds on Aug. 20 and batted .298 (17-57) in 27 games with a homer and 9 RBI ... Batted a combined .244 (22-for-90) at Durham with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI in 23 games at 1B, 2B and DH ... made one appearance at 3B ... Was one of the final spring cuts ... appeared in 23 games at second base and DH ... batted .246 (15-for-61) playing 90 errorless innings at second ... Was named the Rays Most Valuable Player in 2005 (as voted by the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA) after recording 117 RBI and 28 HRs ... however, had just 14 home runs and 63 RBI in 117 games in 2006 and 2007 combined.

2006

Batted .249 with 18 doubles, 14 home runs and 62 RBI after hitting .286 in 2005 with 40 doubles, 28 HR and a team-record 117 RBI while winning team MVP honors...did spend a 6-week stint on the disabled list...In addition, batted .223 (25-112) with runners in scoring position, more than 100 points below what he hit a year earlier in that spot (.325)...was lowest on the Rays and 6th lowest in the AL...Made his second consecutive Opening Day start at second base...knocked in the Rays first run of season with a first-inning sacrifice fly at Baltimore...Was Dl'd April 24 with a fractured left foot...injury occurred Apr 7 at Toronto in the season's 4th game after fouling a ball off the foot...missed 39 games...reinstated June 5 after a brief rehabilitation stint with AA Montgomery...Was batting .291 (16-55) at the time he was shelved...hit .243 the rest of the season (87-358) after being activated...Had a 10-game hit streak at the time he was Dl'd, one shy of his career high...went 0-for-4 his first game back, then hit in another 5 straight, including a 4-hit game June 10 at Kansas City, the 2nd 4-hit game of his career (Sep 30, 2004 vs. DET-G2)...Connected for his first career grand slam July 21 vs. Baltimore off Adam Loewen...recorded a Rays season-high 5 RBI that day tying his career high (also Aug 26, 2005 vs. the Angels)...Made 105 starts, 103 at 2nd base and 2 at DH...committed 13 errors, 3rd most among AL 2nd basemen behind TEX Ian Kinsler (18) and SEA Jose Lopez (16)...Hit everywhere in the lineup except leadoff and 9th...Hit nearly 80 points better at home (.292) than on the road (.213)...Also batted nearly 75 points better from the 7th inning on (.299) than the first 6 innings (.225)...Grounded into a team-high 16 double plays...set a club record in 2005 with 24...his 40 over the two-year period are 5th most in AL...Batted .377 vs. Baltimore (20-53), the highest of any major leaguer with 50 or more AB...Represented Mexico in the inaugural World Baseball Classic...batted .364 (7-for-20) with 2 HR and 6 RBI.

2005

Set a club record for RBI in a season with 117, tied with St. Louis' Albert Pujols and Philadelphia's Pat Burrell for 8th in the majors....Only 10 players since 1961 have driven in more runs in a season before the age of 24...It is the most by a player before the age of 24 since Pujols had 124 in 2003 and the most by an AL player at that age since Alex Rodriguez with Seattle in 1998...Also led the club in home runs (28), extra-base hits (69), doubles (40), sac flies (7) and batting with runners in scoring position (.325, 53-163)...His 28 home runs equaled the 5th most in club history...Also had a club-record 37 game-tying or go-ahead RBI...Only 5 players all-time have reached Cantu's numbers in doubles (40), home runs (28) and RBI (117) before the age of 24: Hal Trosky (Cle, 1934 and 1936), Ted Williams (Bos, 1939), Albert Pujols (StL, 2001-03), Joe DiMaggio (NYY, 1936) and Alex Rodriguez (Sea, 1996)...Of the 422 runners on base when he came to the plate, he drove in 89, or 21.1%, the highest pct. in the majors...Went to spring training slated to back-up Roberto Alomar at 2B...Alomar retired on March 19....Cantu ended up leading the Rays in hitting in spring training (.342) and opened the season as the Rays 2B...Hit safely in the first 11 games of the season, a career-high and the 2nd longest hit streak to open the season in Rays history behind Rocco Baldelli's 13-game streak in 2003...Also hit safely in 19 of his first 20...Shifted between 2B and 3B in May, June and July filling in for slumping Alex Gonzalez with Nick Green taking 2B duties...moved back solely to 2B in mid-August...made 76 starts at 2B, 58 at 3B and 13 at DH...Made 9 errors in 308 TC at 2B (.971) and 12 errors in 136 chances at 3B (.912)...Now has 60 doubles in 200 major league career games...among active players with 50 or more career doubles, he has the highest doubles per game mark (.300), just ahead of Colorado's Todd Helton (.292)...Had four multi-homer games, a club record...His first came June 17 at Tropicana Field with both blasts coming off St. Louis lefty Mark Mulder...his last came on Sep 16 at BAL, after missing one game (left elbow bruise) returned to hit a pair of home runs...was hit by a pitch by the Yankees' Aaron Small on Sep 14 causing him to miss one game...During the Rays' 27-15 run between July 14 and Aug 28, he batted .325 (55-169) with 7 home runs and 34 RBI...Had a club record 19 HR as a 2nd baseman...The previous record was five...Drove in 91 runs in his last 100 games starting June 9...Had 28 RBI in August, a club record for that month...Batted .336 (38-113) vs. the AL West Division with 30 RBI in 29 games...Included was a career-high 5 RBI game vs. Los Angeles on Aug 27...Batted 40 points higher against right-handers than lefties (.296 to .256)...His home run on June 9 off the Reds' Luke Hudson was only the 15th ball hit off the black centerfield batter's eye pavilion at Great American Ball Park (424 feet)...Got RBI #100 at Yankee Stadium on Sep 8, a first-inning double off Chien-Ming Wang...Grounded into a club-record 24 double plays, 3rd most in the AL...His "walk-off" home run on May 10 off Shingo Takatsu gave the Rays a 7-6 win and assured the Rays of winning the 3-game series from Chicago, their first winning series against the World Champs since 2003...On June 23, he homered twice and doubled to lead the Rays to a 9-4 win at New York and a win of the 4-game series, only their 2nd winning series ever at Yankee Stadium...The next day he hit a 3-run homer off the Marlins' Al Leiter...In an 8-6 win at Cleveland on Aug 13 he hit two of the Rays' five home runs as Tampa Bay clinched its first series win ever at Jacobs Field...The Rays went on to sweep the series at Cleveland and he was 8-for-14 with four runs, two doubles, three HRs and 6 RBI...One week later on Aug 20 he drove in all 4 of Tampa Bay's runs as the Rays won 4-2 to clinch their first-ever winning season against Texas.

2004

Finished 3rd in batting among AL rookies with 150 or more plate appearances with a .301 average...His 20 doubles were also 3rd among AL rookies...Only one player in major league history finished a season with 20 or more doubles in so few at-bats: Earle Brucker with the 1938 Philadelphia A's had 21 doubles in 171 at-bats... Named Rays Most Outstanding Rookie by the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA...Split the season at AAA Durham and with the Rays and had a combined 53 doubles, tied for the 2nd most in all of pro ball...Trailed only Josh Kroeger who had 54 with the Diamondbacks, AAA Tucson and AA El Paso...Tied with Lyle Overbay who had 53, all with the Brewers...Cantu had a combined 79 extra base hits with both clubs...Made two tours with the Rays and started 46 games: 2B-32, DH-3, 3B-10, SS-1...Was up with the Rays, July 17-31 and batted .300 (9-30, 2B-4, RBI-3) in 9 games, 8 starts...Returned August 13 and started 38 of the Rays final 46 games and batted .301 (43-143, 2B-16, HR-2, RBI-14)...Had a 4-hit game in the season finale at Tropicana Field on Sep 30 in a 6-4 win over Detroit, tying the club record for most hits in a game by a rookie...Batted .370 (17-46, 6-2B, 3B, HR, 8-RBI) in his last 13 games...Hit his first major league home run at Yankee Stadium (Sep 6 off El Duque)...First big league hit came July 18 off Dave Borkowski, a 2nd-inning single at Baltimore...On Sept. 2, when Cantu (22 years old) started at second base and BJ Upton (20) started at shortstop it was the youngest keystone combination we could find since Brian Giles (23) and Jose Oquendo (19) were in the lineup together for the Mets in 1983...He batted .302 with 22 HRs, 56 XBHs, and 80 RBI in 95 games for the Bulls...Named to the International League year-end All-Star team...Finished as the International League's leader in slugging percentage (.576) edging out teammate Matt Diaz (.571)...Despite missing more than 4 weeks of Durham's season he finished tied for 8th in the IL with 56 extra base hits...Had just 18 career home runs in 5 professional seasons entering this year (1,983 AB).

2003

Split his season between Double-A Orlando and Triple-A Durham, combining to hit .260 (93-for-358).

2002

Spent the entire season at Double-A Orlando, playing in a then-career-high 131 games.

2001

Played in 130 games for Double-A Orlando, earning a spot on the Southern League All-Star Team...At 19 years old, he was the youngest player at the Double-A level during the 2001 season.

2000

Split his time between the Rays' Single-A affiliates at Charleston and St. Petersburg...Combined to hit .297 (94-for-316) with 18 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 38 RBI and 43 runs scored in 82 games.

1999

Made his professional debut with Single-A Hudson Valley at the age of 17.