Sox are unanimous: Quentin will be fine

Carlos Quentin carried the White Sox' offensive load for the better part of two months.

Maybe the 25-year-old left fielder is just taking a breather now.

"The bad thing about this is that Carlos has spoiled a lot of people in Chicago and baseball," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "And all of a sudden people are panicking. He's doing well. I don't see any problem for him."

Heading into June, Quentin could have made a strong case for being the American League's MVP. He was batting .293 and had 14 home runs and 48 RBI.

Entering Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh, a 1-for-16 slump left Quentin's batting average at .267. During his first 13 games in June, the right-hander had 2 homers and 7 RBI.

Quentin broke out Wednesday with a solo home run in the fifth inning. His numbers for the month are respectable, but like Guillen said, Quentin raised the bar pretty high in April and May.

"What did you think, he was going to rake all year long?" Nick Swisher said. "This is a game of ups and downs. Carlos, he's an extremely hard worker. He's going to be just fine. Q's a great baseball player. He's a name you're going to want to remember. He'll be just fine.

"He's just going through some ups and downs right now. He's battling, just like everybody else. They'll be falling in before you know it, I promise you."

Quentin hasn't made himself available to the media much over the past few weeks, but he apparently has been playing with a sore right thumb.

Maybe that's why he has been struggling.

"This kid was playing with an injury for a month," Guillen said. "Not an injury; he got jammed and never complained and got through it. We gave him a day off and he felt better. Hopefully that resolved his problem. This kid is special."

Quentin has cooled off, but slow-starting hitters such as Swisher, Jim Thome and Orlando Cabrera have stepped up for the White Sox.

"That's the stages you go through," Thome said. "I think the great thing about our club is we have a lot of guys that can pick each other up and kind of get things going. Those times last only a short time."

Quentin has had an extended run as the Sox' No. 3 hitter, and Guillen thinks he has handled the role very well.

"He's not supposed to be batting third," Guillen said. "He's supposed to be batting eighth or ninth. This kid came a long way to what he is and what he's doing."