By Alexis Brudnicki (@baseballexis)
His father spent the majority of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, after beginning his career with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, before moving on to the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and the Florida Marlins.
His father threw over 1,200 innings in 14 big-league seasons, most of them spent as a reliever.
Cal Quantrill is just like his dad Paul, in the sense that both are right-handed hurlers whose go-to pitch is a sinker.
But that might be where the similarities end.
"The biggest difference is that I’m just better than him," the younger Quantrill said.
Often asked first and foremost about his dad, one of Cal’s priorities has become distinguishing himself from his father.
While the 17-year-old, who pitches for Scott VandeValk’s Ontario Terriers has gained an immense amount of wisdom from his major-league family member, he hopes that people realize he’s blazing his own path in baseball.
"It’s funny," the young Quantrill said. "I never wanted to be the guy that people think, ‘Oh, he’s just here because of his dad,’ or anything like that. But I’m pretty sure that people know that I’m not playing baseball because my dad makes me. And I’m not just doing well in baseball because my dad is telling people that I’m doing well.
"I’ve pretty much separated myself from him as far as being a baseball player, but used him to the full extent that he can offer me knowledge. And getting questions about my dad, it’s a given. He played in the big leagues for a long time. I was always going to get a lot of questions about that and what he had to offer, so that’s part of it and I like it. It’s fine."
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Despite the differences that separate the Canadian Junior National Team member and his father, there are also some undeniable similarities.
"We’re both the same type of pitcher," Cal said. "We’re both a sinker-ball pitcher, we just throw hard and huck the ball and have fun. That’s the biggest thing. We both have a lot of fun playing baseball. It’s the same reason we still go out and play catch right now."
Greg Hamilton, Canadian national team director and head coach of the junior team that took part in the St. Petersburg International tournament in Florida earlier this month, has been impressed with the young Quantrill.
"He’s got command of three pitches," Hamilton said. "His changeup’s really good, he knows how to use it and he’s effective with it. He does sink the ball very well, he knows how to go to both sides of the plate and he’s a really good competitor.
"The compete level is outstanding. I think if you combine that with projection, which he does have, he’s a long, lanky kid, he’s going to fill out and get a little stronger, and he should throw pretty hard. He certainly has command of his pitches and he knows how to pitch."
The native of Port Hope takes full advantage of his dad’s knowledge.
"Obviously he has firsthand experience, so that’s helpful," Cal said. "But he’s let me make my own way in baseball too. He helps and gives me lots of instruction, but he lets me make my own way to try and figure out how I want to do things."
What kind of questions does a kid with a big-leaguer for a dad ask?
"A lot of the times the questions I ask him are very situational," Quantrill said. "Like, ‘What pitch would you throw here? What would you do as a hitter here? What would you do as a coach here?’ He knows a lot more about the game than I do so I’m just trying to take as much from him as I can.’"
Having already had the opportunity to travel the world through baseball and seeing the differences in how the game is played at home and elsewhere, has opened Cal’s eyes to different levels of competition.
"Back home there are just not as many baseball players in general," Quantrill said. "So it gets split up and the teams don’t end up being as good. But when you play international baseball and you’re playing against countries, it’s just, ‘Wow.’ You’re so surprised.
"Like Team Colombia. You wouldn’t think they’re that good and they were just unbelievable. Teams like that, and obviously the US, they’re just a powerhouse. But it’s a ton of fun and the competition is unbelievable."
Another difference in the international game? You are more likely to pay for your mistakes.
"You’ll eventually learn that a mistake back home, you can get away with because you throw harder than everyone else," Cal explained. "It doesn’t fly so easy against a bunch of guys who have seen how hard you throw. You refine your game a little bit more when you’re playing guys who aren’t afraid of you. That’s what I’ve learned."