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Carlos Gómez Pena (born December 4, 1985, in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. Gomez has consistently been regarded as one of the fastest players in the MLB.
Career[]
New York Mets[]
Along with Fernando Martínez, Gómez was considered one of the top New York Mets outfield prospects, and was considered to be a five-tool prospect. While they were teammates, Mets shortstop José Reyes, who led the National League in stolen bases and triples for multiple seasons, said that Gómez is faster than he is. In fact, while he and Reyes were teammates with the Mets, he routinely beat Reyes in foot races during Spring training 2007.
At just 16 years of age, Gómez signed with the Mets as an international free agent on July 27, 2002. In 2006, he played for the Double-A Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League, and was the co-winner of the Sterling Award. He finished second in the league with 41 stolen bases and fifth in the league with eight triples. He also batted .281 (121-430) with 53 runs scored, 24 doubles, seven home runs and 48 runs batted in.
Gómez started the 2007 season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs. Playing every day, by the second week of May he led the Pacific Coast League with 17 stolen bases in 36 games and hit .286 (40-for-140), scoring 24 runs, and hitting eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs.
Gomez was part of the youth movement in New York, and was the youngest player in the National League at the time of his debut. On May 16, 2007, he appeared in the Mets starting lineup along with Carlos Beltrán and Carlos Delgado, marking the first time in Major League history that a single team had three starters named "Carlos" in their lineup.[citation needed] He was nicknamed 'Little Carlos', since he was the third Carlos on the team. He became expendable when Johan Santana, of the Minnesota Twins, became available via trade, and on January 29, 2008, he and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Phillip Humber & Kevin Mulvey were sent to the Twins for the two time Cy Young Award winner. Carlos had quickly become a fan favorite at Shea Stadium.
Minnesota Twins[]
Gomez became the starting center fielder for the Twins, replacing the now-Angels player Torii Hunter. He won a three-way race for the center field in 2008, beating out prospects Denard Span and Jason Pridie. Gomez's 40-time had been clocked at 4.29 by the MLB.[citation needed] Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has nicknamed him "Go-Go" due to his last name and his blazing speed. Batting first, with Alexi Casilla batting second, Gardenhire has referred to the speedy duo as "Loose Cannon One," and "Loose Cannon Two."
He had an excellent regular-season debut for the Twins, going 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs as the Twins beat the Angels, 3-2. On April 11, 2008, Gómez hit his first career triple off Yasuhiko Yabuta of the Royals.
On May 7, 2008, Gómez hit for the cycle against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. He became the fourth major leaguer and second in Twins history to hit for the reverse natural cycle. He also became the third-youngest player to hit for the cycle in MLB history.
In 2008 he led the major leagues with 30 bunt hits, but was also picked off a major-league-leading 10 times. Defensively, he led all major league center fielders in errors, with 8.
Milwaukee Brewers[]
On November 6, 2009, Gómez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for J.J. Hardy.