Padres Double Down With Quantrill, Lauer

SAN DIEGO—Righthander Cal Quantrill is little more than one year removed from Tommy John surgery, and he has pitched a grand total of three games the last two years.

But the Stanford product says he is fully healthy and ready to go, and the Padres apparently have faith that is true.

The Padres drafted Quantrill with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft. The son of former big leaguer Paul Quantrill was ranked as the No. 33 prospect in the Baseball America Top 500 Draft Prospects, in part because of his injury concerns.

“I took the time I needed to get to where I needed to be mentally, and then took the time to get back to where I need to be physically, and now I’m there,” Quantrill said in a post-draft conference call with reporters. “I’m ready to go. My arm has never felt better.”

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Quantrill, who attended high school in Port Hope, Ontario, went 9-5, 2.57 with the Cardinal before going down with a torn UCL his sophomore season. He was adamant there would be no lingering effects from the injury.

“I was 100 percent towards the very end of the season,” Quantrill said. “If (Stanford) could’ve made the playoffs, it would have been a legit option to pitch. I’m ready to go now, and I’ve been ready to go the last couple of weeks.”

Quantrill was the first of five Padres selections on day one of the draft. They chose Texas prep shortstop Hudson Sanchez at No. 24, Kent State lefthander Eric Lauer at No. 25, Florida outfielder Buddy Reed at No. 48 and then stayed in southern California with their final selection, Victorville high school righthander Reggie Lawson at No. 71.

Lauer, in particular, was a notable selection after recording an 0.69 ERA this season for the Golden Flashes, the lowest of any Division I starter since 1979.

A 6-foot-3 Ohio native with a 90-94 mph fastball, Lauer expects to be in the majors quickly.

“My goal is to be up helping the big league club by next year,” Lauer said. “I’m confident I can succeed wherever they send me. If they wanted to throw me in the fire right away in the majors even, I’d be up for it.”

FATHER FIGURES

• Sanchez was not viewed as a consensus pick at No. 24 overall after BA ranked him the No. 108 prospect. The Southlake, Texas, shortstop indicated he would forgo his scholarship to Texas A&M and sign with the Padres. “I was expecting to go pretty high, but it’s still pretty crazy,” Sanchez said. “I’m just ready to start my career.”

• The Padres took pitchers with four of their first six picks last year in their first draft under general manager A.J. Preller and scouting director Mark Connor. They followed that with three pitchers taken in their first five picks this year.