San Diego outfielder Carlos Quentin, who was to bat cleanup for the Padres this season, will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday and miss the next four to six weeks, the club has announced via Twitter. Quentin began experiencing soreness in his right knee earlier this week. He also dealt with some minor knee discomfort last season, but this qualifies as his more serious injury since the bout of plantar fasciitis that sidelined him for more than 50 games back in 2009.
In all likelihood, Quentin's injury means that Kyle Blanks will make the active roster coming out of spring training and perhaps replace him in left.
Quentin was already tasked with transitioning from his former home at U.S. Celluar field, one of the most homer-friendly parks around, to Petco Park in San Diego, the most run-suppressing environment in all of baseball. Now he must cope with a fairly serious injury to the leg he uses to generate drive at the plate, which is to say nothing of the rigors of patrolling the spacious Petco outfield.
As for the Padres, they weren't likely to contend this season, but this is a blow nonetheless.
