Teammates Discuss Edgar Quero's Impressive Start To MLB Career With White Sox

MINNEAPOLIS – White Sox catcher Edgar Quero has made a strong first impression since his MLB debut April 17 against the Athletics.

Several teammates highlighted his pinch-hit at-bat Sunday against the Red Sox as a standout moment. Facing a 1-2 count against lefty Justin Wilson, Quero lined a high and inside slider up the middle for a go-ahead two-RBI single, which gave the White Sox a 5-4 lead in an eventual 8-4 win.

"That's a big moment, and a lot of guys could kind of maybe shy away from it," White Sox reliever Brandon Eisert said. "But he stepped up and got the job done."

"[Fenway Park] is a tough place to play," White Sox catcher Matt Thaiss said. "Especially when those high pressure moments it gets loud there and he handled it, especially that extra-inning game, called great pitches and got us out of jams."

Through six games and 20 plate appearances, the 22-year old Cuban switch hitter has one run, seven hits, two doubles, three RBI, zero walks and two strikeouts. That's good for a .368 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, .474 slugging percentage and an .874 OPS.

Ahead of Wednesday's game against the Twins, we asked several of Quero's teammates about what has led to the rookie catcher's success, and what has impressed them the most.

"It's been absolutely sick to watch," Joshua Palacios said. "He's swinging the bat, he's coming up with a lot of clutch hits, like the dude is hitting line drives, hitting balls off of [Aroldis] Chapman and everything. It's been absolutely fun to watch, and it's cool to play with a guy like that on the same team. He's got a really good feel with his bat, really good feel of the barrel and swinging it. He's got a great arm, and he can pretty much do everything. So it's been pretty cool to watch."

Quero had three hits in Tuesday's 4-2 loss, two of which came on changeups on the low and outside corner that he drove to the opposite field for singles. Those hits marked a continuation of promising plate appearances for the organization's No. 6 prospect.

"Every at-bat has been impressive from him," manager Will Venable said. "Where he’s in control of the at-bat. He's not trying to do too much. You just see the nice, short compact swing throughout the at-bat. He’s a guy who has the intention to be aggressive, but also doesn't mind getting deep into counts. ... He looks like he belongs. He’s really confident and the game isn’t fast for him. He just really looks like a big leaguer that’s been playing for a while and is in control and knows what he’s doing out there. He’s continuing to develop, continuing to learn, but obviously off to a really good start.

"He's taking great at-bats, putting really good swings on the ball, hitting it to all fields, it's impressive," Andrew Vaughn said. "He came in ready to rock. I mean, great at-bats from game one that he came in to play, and it's been like that ever since. He came in confident, really confident with his craft and that shows in his at-bats. He really seems calm, cool and collected, and that's a pretty good attribute to have and he's showing it so far."

"He looks comfortable," Nick Maton said. "If you can come up here and transition your game to how you know you can play, obviously it's good. I feel like he feels comfortable, and that's the hardest part to do in this game at this level. Yeah, he's been awesome."

White Sox left-hander Brandon Eisert shared a pitcher's perspective on why it's been difficult to keep Quero off the base paths.

"I think just kind of unsure scouting report-wise what he hits well, what he struggles with," Eisert said. "And I think him being a switch hitter is also a big bonus for him, so he always kind of has the handed matchup going for him so that's helpful. He's just a good hitter, contact, so it's just tough to get him out. ... He has really good hand-eye with the barrel, so I think he's just able to make good contact and let what happens when it's in play happen and just trying to control what he can. He's been great so far, off to a good start, so it's fun to watch."

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Quero breaking into the league is everything required of catchers. He has to learn the tendencies of every White Sox starter and reliever, as well as how to call pitches against different types of hitters.

"A lot of homework, a lot of studying, a lot of getting to know 13 different pitchers," Thaiss said. "I think that's the biggest thing, he's got 13 guys who he needs to learn and learn it on the fly real quick because he's catching. He's done a great job handling the staff so far. Scouting reports, studying how to attack hitters, how to attack teams, all that stuff. And not only studying it, but being able to regurgitate it, whether it's to the staff, and then being able to apply it it in the game in the 15-second pitch clock window."

Thaiss is familiar with Quero from their time in the Los Angeles Angels organization. Quero was part of the trade involving former White Sox All-Star Lucas Giolito in July of 2023, and Thaiss has seen him grow in many ways since then.

"He's a quiet, confident kid. I've known him for a few years now because he was obviously with the Angels, and he's just really grown up and grown into his own way," Thaiss said. "He's confident. He knows what he's doing, and it's exciting to watch."

Thaiss and Quero have been the team's two main catchers since Korey Lee was placed on the injured list on April 10. A seven-year MLB veteran, Thaiss knows the challenges that come with debuting as a catcher, and he's been impressed by how Quero has handled it all.

"He's been outstanding," Thaiss said. For a 22-year-old kid to come up here, especially as a catcher, it's never easy, but it's really not easy at that age and he's hit it full stride. I'm not even talking offensively, I'm just talking defensively, and getting to know our guys and our staff and he's done a great job."

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