Sunday’s matinee in San Diego will be an All-Canadian pitching affair.
Mike Soroka and Cal Quantrill are two of Canada’s rising young arms. Soroka, 21, became a first-time All-Star this season and leads the contending Braves’ rotation. Quantrill, 24, is one of many talented pitchers helping the Padres back to relevance.
Their journeys began north of the border. Soroka hails from Calgary, while Quantrill from Port Hope. They were united through Baseball Canada, which bonds the nation’s baseball community.
“Anytime you get a couple of Canadian guys who came up in the same timeframe, you’re going to be closely connected because there’s only so many of us, especially with how tight-knit our community is with Baseball Canada,” Soroka said. “It’s nice to have someone you can relate to, even though he went the college route through Stanford. He’s a really smart guy and he’s one of those guys you’ll see around the league all the time. Hopefully for a long time.”
Quantrill’s father, Paul, played for seven teams in a 14-year major-league career in which he had a reputation as a control maestro. Soroka knew Paul before Cal, thanks to his involvement with Baseball Canada. While the kids weren’t on Team Canada at the same time (Soroka missed Quantrill by a year), they developed a relationship through the organization’s banquets.
“It’s a pretty small baseball world where we’re from,” Quantrill said. “A couple years ago we met up at the Baseball Canada banquet a couple times, I grabbed breakfast with him the other day.
“I’ve known Soroka for a while now. He’s a good dude. Just a plus, plus person. I don’t have enough good things to say about him. I’m so happy he got to represent at the All-Star game. But (Sunday), let’s just hope I can be a little better than him.”
The finale will be the two’s first time facing off. For Quantrill, it will be his first time facing a team for the second time. He made his MLB debut against the Braves in May.
Soroka debuted for the Braves last year, making five starts before shoulder inflammation shut him down. Unlike Soroka, Quantrill opted for the college route, excelling at Stanford and going No. 8 overall in the 2016 draft.
“He might be one of the smartest people I know,” Soroka said. “He won’t tell you that, but he didn’t get into Stanford just because of his arm. He probably would’ve went there or a school like that regardless. But he brings a great attitude to baseball. He loves it. He loves the new aspects, the analytics. You can tell he just wants to learn. That’s somebody you want to surround yourself with because at the end of the day that’s how you get better.”
Quantrill echoed praise for Soroka: “We took different routes, but I think anybody who played with him knew he’d make it. He has the right mindset, right approach to baseball, works his butt off. I think he’s just a really, really well-rounded pitcher. Sometimes talking to him is like talking to a 35-year-old pitcher. Nothing but happy things for him, but (Sunday) we’re going to go to war and hopefully this Canadian comes out on top.”
And so perhaps Sunday begins a friendly rivalry between two friends hoping they’ll be integral parts of their rotations for the foreseeable future.
“It’s going to be fun,” Soroka said. “It’s going to be fun getting him at the plate and seeing him at the plate as well. I told him I’d take a big swing. So it’ll be a fun one.”
