Eighteen years after he first signed with the New York Mets, Jose Quintana had a signature moment in blue and orange.
Quintana threw six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, striking out five and walking one, in the Mets 4-2 win in Game Three of the National League Wild Card Series against Milwaukee to earn World Baseball Network’s International Major League Baseball Player of the Week honors.
The journey to the mound at American Family Field in Milwaukee was a long one for Quintana, one that saw him pitch in eight different organizations and for seven MLB teams over 18 years before the native of Anjalo, Colombia helped get the Mets into the NL Division Series.
A great thing about being a left-handed pitcher with ability in professional baseball is that another organization is often willing to take a chance and extend your career.
So it was for Jose Quintana, who signed with the New York Mets as an international free agent in 2006 and pitched for their club in the Venezuelan Summer League that summer. He was suspended for the 2007 season, then pitched in the New York Yankees minor league system, putting together a great 2011 season with Advanced-A Tampa, posting a 2.91 ERA in 102 innings of work.
And then he was a minor league free agent, in need of a contract, and the Chicago White Sox picked him up. He was in the Major Leagues six months later, and has mostly pitched in the best league in the world since, only returning to the minor leagues last year to rehab injuries.
After five and a half seasons with the White Sox, Quintana was traded to the Chicago Cubs in July 2017, where he pitched for the Northsiders through 2020, signing with the Los Angeles Angels for 2021. He’s since made stops in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis before his career came full circle, returning to the Mets before the 2023 season.
Quintana is a serviceable left-handed starter. Steve Carlton or Sandy Koufax he is not. But on Thursday night, he didn’t need to be. He just needed to keep the Milwaukee Brewers’ bats quiet for six innings and keep the Mets in the game before handing the ball off to the bullpen.
Eighteen years after the Mets first signed him, Quintana did just that.
Photo: Jose Quintana of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers during Game Three of the Wild Card Series at American Family Field on October 03, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
