Major League Baseball

Cantu ready to bounce back with Padres

Published Feb. 24, 2011 3:40 a.m. ET

foxsports

The way the 2010 season ended, with Jorge Cantu driving in two runs in the Texas Rangers' final 60 games, hasn't diminished the veteran infielder's confidence.

Now with the San Diego Padres after signing a one-year deal worth $850,000 on Jan. 27, Cantu has no doubt he will bounce back this season. He believes his struggles with the Rangers were because they didn't use him properly.

With the Florida Marlins, Cantu had been an everyday player who had three seasons in five in which he had driven in 95 or more runs. But after he was traded on July 29, Cantu was relegated to playing every other game. He hit .256 with 11 homers and 56 RBIs in 127 games last season.

''Once I went to Texas everything shut down,'' Cantu said. ''I went from a starter every day and played once a week. It's not a failure. It's an experience. That's what it was. Now, everybody is starting from zero and what counts is from now on.''

Cantu had two stretches in August where he started six straight games for Texas. In between, he sat for five straight games. From September on, Cantu started in 10 of the Rangers' final 32 games.

''You're expecting to play and all of a sudden you're not playing,'' Cantu said. ''That left a little sour taste.''

The bitterness was balanced by Texas' postseason run. It was Cantu's first foray into the playoffs and it left him hungry. Now with the Padres, Cantu is ready to get at bats wherever manager Bud Black plays him. He is expected to see playing time at first, second and third base.

''The experience of being in the playoffs was second to none,'' Cantu said. ''It left me a lot of hunger to get back there and actually be playing and getting more opportunity.

''As long as I get those at bats, that's the most important part. I've been an RBI man for the past three years and don't have any plans to back off or stop it.''