Humberto Quintero is a professional baseball player from Venezuela who plays as a catcher, Quintero began playing in the USA after being drafted as a free agent in 1997, by the Chicago White Sox. Quintero only began playing in 1999, with the Rookie League affiliate of the White Sox. In 2000, he moved to the Arizona White Sox, still in the Rookie League before moving to the A-Division after just 15 games in the Rookie League.
Quintero had a .238 batting average in the A-League and that prompted the franchise to keep him in the A-League for the beginning of the 2001 season. After 60 games at an average of .269, Quintero moved up to the Advanced A-League where he played another 43 games at .240. Towards the end of the season, Quintero was promoted to the AA-League for the last five games.
In 2002, Quintero began in the Advanced A-League, and after 52 games with a dismal .194 batting average, he was promoted solely on his performance as a catcher. Then began his rise in the minors and in the same season, Quintero first moved to the AA-League and then to the AAA-League where he ended the season. Throughout this time, while Quintero had been barely average with the bat, he was outstanding as a catcher and that kept him in good stead throughout his minor league career.
| Team |
Houston Astros
|
| Position | Catcher |
| Born | 2 Aug 1979 |
| Nationality |
Venezuela
|
| Nickname | The Truth |
| Team History | |
|
Houston Astros
|
2005 - present |
San Diego Padres
|
2003 - 2004 |
Quintero moved to the San Diego Padres in 2003 and began the 2003 season in the AAA-League.
Quintero soon picked up his batting game as well, notching up a .298 batting average in 110 games and earned a spot on the MLB roster for the last 12 games of the season.
He returned to the AAA-League in 2004 however, this time he played only 68 games before being called up to the MLB roster again. His .317 batting average in the minors dropped to .250 in the National League although he was still quite effective as a catcher.
After two seasons at the Padres, Quintero was offloaded to the Houston Astros and Quintero had to start from the AA-League. 4 games later, he was in the AAA-League and another 52 games later, he came to the MLB roster. In his 18 games for the Houston Astros, Quintero batted at a dismal .185, some strong performances with the catching mitts being his only saving grace for the season.
For the next two seasons, Quintero began in the AAA-League and ended the season with the Houston Astros. While his hitting steadily showed improvement, it wasn’t until 2008 that Quintero actually made an impact with a bat in hand. After beginning the season in the AA-League, Quintero was promoted to the AAA-League where he batted at .237 before hitting at .226 in the Majors.
In 2009, Quintero again began in the AAA-League and after just 4 games, moved up to the Major League roster. However, the introduction of Ivan Rodriguez in March might mean that Quintero will remain a backup for the remainder of the season.
