PHOENIX -- Brewers manager Pat Murphy was most focused on the first inning for Jose Quintana after the veteran left-hander spent the last two weeks facing 17- and 18-year-old Rookie Leaguers. Since he’d lingered in free agency until early March, it took a little extra time to complete his ramp-up for a 14th big league season.
If Quintana could clear the first inning in Friday’s Brewers debut -- a 7-0 win over the D-backs at Chase Field -- Murphy figured he’d be all right.
“A fighter goes into the ring for the first round and he’s like, ‘OK, I just sparred five rounds last week. I’m fine, I’m in shape,’” Murphy said. “But, no, that first round can zap you a lot. Same thing with pitching. That first inning can zap you sometimes.”
Quintana wouldn’t be zapped. Instead, he delivered seven scoreless innings and became the 24th pitcher to earn a win against all of MLB’s current 30 teams. Only four of the others are active, and it’s the sort of list one wants to be part of: Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
“To face all 30 teams and get a win against each team, that means a lot for me,” Quintana said. “Dreams come true, and I want to keep going.”
Quintana breezed through the first inning on six pitches thanks to a double play. Then he induced another double play in the second, picked a runner off first base in the third and was off and running as a version of the 36-year-old from Arjona, Colombia, that Murphy and the Brewers have seen a lot over the years. Quintana scattered four D-backs hits (all singles), didn’t walk a batter and faced one more than the minimum in an outing that was worth the wait.
In small ways, Quintana prepared himself for the sudden adrenaline rush. His outings in extended spring training took place in the main stadium at American Family Fields of Phoenix, which had the added benefit of being wired with the tools to provide on-the-spot measurements of velocity and movement. If Quintana wanted to see the action on a pitch, all he had to do was turn around and look at the scoreboard.
Still, there was the odd quiet to contend with. Nothing could match the buzz of a big league ballpark, but someone had the idea to play music as ambient noise, and it proved a small touch that made a difference, Quintana said, when he took the mound Friday night.
“Sometimes we try to bring the adrenaline around us, to feel that energy,” Quintana said. “That was the tricky part.”
It showed against the D-backs, said catcher William Contreras, who marveled at Quintana’s pinpoint command in his season debut. “Beautiful,” Contreras called it, and, “amazing.”
“What I expected, I think, happened,” Contreras said. “He’s a pitcher with experience. Everyone knows who Quintana is, and you can trust whatever he wants to do. It was a really good game for the first one. I think he’s going to be great for the team.”
Staying with that patient approach wasn’t easy. The Brewers’ injured list currently includes starters Nestor Cortes (elbow), Tobias Myers (oblique), Aaron Civale (hamstring), Aaron Ashby (oblique) and DL Hall (lat), plus two more, Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) and Robert Gasser (elbow), who are rehabbing from surgeries.
“We could have pushed [Quintana] to come back a week earlier,” Murphy said. “But this was a smart decision to do this, and here we are. Exciting. I’ve always loved this guy from afar.”
Did he?
Quintana compiled a 2.98 ERA in 130 career innings against Milwaukee, including seven starts for the Cubs against the Brewers in 2018 alone, when Quintana pitched to 2.13 ERA in those outings with a .196 average against.
“No, I hated him,” Murphy said, laughing. “I knew that every time he pitched he was going to give us everything we could handle.”
Already, Quintana is the eighth pitcher to start a game for the Brewers in the first 14 games, a fact Contreras was reminded of Friday night. He asked how many starters the Brewers used last season, and raised his eyebrows upon hearing the answer: 17, matching the franchise record.
“We’re on the way,” Contreras said.
Quintana admitted feeling nervous in the runup to his season debut, saying it “was like old times.” After completing his seventh scoreless inning, he found Murphy waiting on the top step of the dugout bearing a big smile and a message.
“I’ve seen that performance a bunch,” Murphy said. “And this is the first time I’ve ever been happy about it.”