Former Milwaukee Brewers All-Star Carlos Gómez Training For Paris Olympics in Cycling
Carlos Gómez has always had some serious wheels, and he routinely showed them off during his 13 seasons in MLB.
But now, nearly five years removed from his last big league at-bat, the former All-Star outfielder will be using a different set of wheels to try and set himself apart from the crowd.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Todd Rosiak reported Friday that Gómez, 38, is in the midst of training for the 2024 Paris Olympics as a cyclist. Gómez, who needs to win a qualifying race in May in order to keep his Olympic hopes alive, is aiming to represent the Dominican Republic in the 500-meter velodrome.
According to Rosiak, Gómez is on a 7,000-calories-a-day diet in order to keep up with his intense training regiment. The 6-foot-3 Gómez was listed at 220 pounds when he retired from baseball in January 2020.
Rosiak added that Gómez, who grew up training in judo, was initially gearing up for an MMA career before a neck injury redirected him towards cycling.
The Dominican Republic has only ever had one cycling representative at the Olympics – Diego Milán in 2016 – but he was competing in the road discipline, rather than the indoor track discipline Gómez is shooting for.
Gómez made his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 2007, then spent the next two seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He followed that up with a successful six-year stint with the Milwaukee Brewers, making two All-Star Games, winning a Gold Glove and earning a handful of NL MVP votes.
The Brewers eventually traded Gómez to the Houston Astros, who let him walk and join the Texas Rangers a year later. Gómez spent one season with the Tampa Bay Rays before closing out his career right back where it started with the Mets in 2019.
Gómez racked up 1,189 hits, 145 home runs, 546 RBI, 268 stolen bases and a 24.3 WAR over the course of his career. He was a .252 lifetime hitter with a .724 OPS.
Milwaukee benefited from Gómez's best seasons in 2013 and 2014, when he hit .284 with an .838 OPS. He notched 24 and 23 homers in those two campaigns, respectively, putting up exactly 73 RBI in each season.
Gómez stole 30-plus bases four times. His swiped a career-high 40 bags in 2014, the same year he won a Gold Glove, finished ninth in NL MVP voting and ranked third in the entire NL with a 7.6 WAR.
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