ARLINGTON, Texas — Cal Quantrill has moved between the Texas Rangers bullpen and rotation four times since April. On Tuesday, in his second start since the latest move, he threw 7 scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals at Globe Life Field.
Quantrill gave up 4 hits, walked none, and struck out 5 in a 5-0 win. He threw 91 pitches, 61 of them for strikes, and faced 25 batters. He is 5-4 with a 3.13 ERA.
It was his longest scoreless outing in more than two years. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings for the Colorado Rockies against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 3, 2024.
How Cal Quantrill Built Up to a Starter’s Workload
Quantrill signed a minor league deal with Texas last offseason and opened the year at Triple-A Round Rock. He missed weeks of camp in Surprise to pitch for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic, and the Rangers staff felt it hadn’t had enough time to evaluate him before decisions came due.
The club brought him up in mid-April and used him mainly as a long relief option. He made his first start of the season on June 23 in Miami, a 2-inning outing in which he allowed 1 earned run. His pitch counts across his first five starts ran 34, 55, 66, 79, and 86.
In 26 appearances this season, Quantrill has made 17 relief outings and 9 starts. He has also closed a game.
Corey Seager, who went 2-for-4 with a double Tuesday, said building up as a starter in the middle of a season is not an easy thing to do.
“Honestly, he’s been phenomenal,” Seager said. “It’s really not easy to do, either. He competed for a job, made it as a long guy, and then to build up as a starter, making starts in spots that we need to win, and he’s done an absolutely phenomenal job. That was a huge start for us today.”
The Bullpen Move That Lasted One Game
Cody Bradford came back from a long rehab from UCL surgery two weeks ago, and Quantrill went to the bullpen. He worked one game there, against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field on Aug. 8.
Two days later, Nathan Eovaldi went on the 15-day injured list with right posterior elbow inflammation, and Quantrill was back in the rotation.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Quantrill went to the minors, made the most of the opportunity, came up as the long man, and worked leverage innings at times before need pushed him into the rotation.
“It was a hard conversation to tell him he’s not in the rotation anymore because Bradford’s now healthy,” Schumaker said. “And then a week later we throw him back in there. That is not easy. The entire time all he said was like, ‘I get it, I trust you.’ He’s been a pro about every single move; whether he’s liked it or not, he understood it. He doesn’t have to like those conversations, but I think he trusts us enough that we have his best interest and our best interest to do whatever we can to win.”
Quantrill said the goal he and the club share is the postseason.
“It’s not the most ideal outcome, but it’s baseball,” Quantrill said. “You get what you earn and I think that this has been an opportunity to become a better pitcher, and reestablish myself and prove that I can pitch deep into games, but I can also be good out of the ‘pen.”
“I knew what I was signing up for here,” Quantrill continued. “I think we’re aligned on what our goals are, and that’s to go to the playoffs. I will do whatever is necessary to do that. But it feels good to be back in the rotation and starting to settle into a groove. I thought it all kind of came together today.”
Texas is 62-64 and second in the American League West. The Rangers and Nationals meet Wednesday again at Globe Life Field, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network. Kumar Rocker starts in the spot of Jacob deGrom, who remains day to day.
