Carlos Argelis Gómez Peña, nicknamed Go-Go, (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos ˈɡomes]; born December 4, 1985) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays. Gómez is a two-time MLB All-Star and a Gold Glove Award winner.
At just 16 years of age, Gómez signed with the New York Mets as an international free agent on July 27, 2002. Along with Fernando Martínez, Gómez was considered a five-tool prospect and one of their top outfield prospects. While they were teammates, Mets shortstop José Reyes, who led the National League in stolen bases and triples for multiple seasons, said that Gómez was faster than he was. In fact, Gómez routinely would beat him in foot races during spring training.
In 2006, Gómez 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 with eight triples. He batted .281 (121-for-430) with 53 runs scored, 24 doubles, seven home runs, and 48 runs batted in (RBI) in 120 games.
Gómez started the 2007 season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs. He led the Pacific Coast League (PCL) with 17 stolen bases by the second week of May. In 36 games, Gómez hit .286 (40-for-140) with 24 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs and 13 RBI.
Gómez made his major league debut with the Mets on May 13, 2007. At 21 years and 205 days old, he became the youngest player in the National League. Gómez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base, helping the Mets to a 9–1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. On June 10, he hit his first major league home run, a three-run home run off Detroit Tigers pitcher Jason Grilli. In his first MLB season, Gómez played in 58 games and hit .232 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 139 at bats.
When pitcher Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins became available via trade, the Mets traded Gómez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins to acquire him on January 29, 2008. Gómez became the starting center fielder for the Twins, following Torii Hunter's signing with the Los Angeles Angels. He won a three-way race for center field in 2008, beating out prospects Denard Span and Jason Pridie. Gómez's 40-yard dash time was clocked at 4.29. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire nicknamed Gómez "Go-Go" due to his last name and his blazing speed. With Gómez batting first, and Alexi Casilla batting second, Gardenhire referred to the speedy duo as "Loose Cannon One" and "Loose Cannon Two."
On March 31, 2008, Gómez made his 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 Kansas City 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 ninth major leaguer in history to hit for the reverse natural cycle. He also became the third-youngest player to hit for the cycle in MLB history. Gómez finished the 2008 season batting .258 with seven home runs, 59 RBI, and 33 stolen bases in 153 games. He led the major leagues with 30 bunt hits but was also picked off a major-league-leading 10 times. In addition defensively, he led all major league center fielders in errors, with eight.
During the 2009 season playing in 137 games, Gómez hit .229 with three home runs and 28 RBI. On October 6, 2009, Gómez scored the winning run in the 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game on Alexi Casilla's walk-off single, clinching the AL Central division title for the Twins. Gómez also saw his first postseason action, earning the starting position in center field for Game 2 of the 2009 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. In that game, he went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored in Minnesota's 4–3 loss. The Yankees would go on to sweep the Twins in three games, thus ending their season.
On November 6, 2009, Gómez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for J. J. Hardy and $250,000.
In 2011, Gómez led all NL outfielders in range factor, at 2.97, and tied for the NL lead in fielding percentage for outfielders, at 1.000. On July 20, 2011, Gómez fractured his collarbone when he made a diving catch in shallow center field but returned for the rest of the season in September. During the 2011 postseason, Gómez hit .357, with a home run and 2 RBI.
In 2012, Gómez started the season platooning with Nyjer Morgan and Norichika Aoki in center field, but eventually Gómez got more starting playing time. Gómez ended up having one of the best seasons of his major league career at that point with career highs in a .260 batting average, .305 on-base percentage, 19 home runs, and 37 stolen bases in the 2012 season.
Prior to the 2013 season, Gómez signed a three-year, $24 million extension with the Brewers.
Gómez started the 2013 season as the Brewers' starting center fielder, though he struggled early, batting only .162 after the first couple of weeks. But since then, Gómez went on a tear, getting three hits in each of the next three games, raising his average back up to .300 just a week later. Gómez was named National League Player of the Week for his efforts, the third time he had won the award. Gómez was also named to his first All-Star team. Mariano Rivera retired him to end the eighth inning in his last All-Star Game. On September 26, Gómez was suspended for one game for his role in an on-field altercation during a game a day prior against the Atlanta Braves. In that game, Gómez hit a home run, while trotting around the bases, he shouted at Braves pitcher Paul Maholm for apparently throwing at Gómez in an earlier game. As Gómez reached home plate, Braves catcher Brian McCann deliberately stood between Gómez and home plate, blocking him, which sparked a brief brawl between the two teams. Gómez's 2013 season was the best of his major league career, attaining career highs in practically every offensive category: a .284 batting average, .338 on-base percentage, 27 doubles, 10 triples, 24 home runs, 80 runs scored, 73 RBI, and 40 stolen bases in 147 games. He led the National League in power-speed number (30.0). Gómez had a spectacular season defensively as well, leading the league in defensive putouts, as well as taking away at least four potential home runs. Gómez finished third in the National League in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). He also won the NL Gold Glove Award for center field, becoming the first Brewer to win the award since Robin Yount in 1982.
Gómez began 2014 as Milwaukee's starting center fielder and leadoff hitter. In April, Gómez got into an altercation in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In that particular game, Gómez hit a deep fly ball that he initially thought was a home run. As a result, he flipped his bat out of his hand, something he was known to do when hitting a home run. The ball ended up hitting the outfield wall, though Gómez still ended up at third base with a triple, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole confronted Gómez about showing off. The two began to argue, and as the two were separated, Pirates player Travis Snider confronted Gómez as well, causing Gómez to throw punches at Snider, igniting a brief brawl in which Snider got hit in the eye by Gómez' teammate, Martin Maldonado. Gómez was suspended for three games. He initially appealed the suspension, but dropped it after suffering a minor back injury, using the time for the suspension to rest his back. Upon his return, Gómez was moved to the clean-up spot in the Brewers batting order, due to an injury to Aramis Ramírez. Gómez had another solid season in 2014, batting .284 with 23 home runs, 73 RBI, 95 runs scored, and 34 stolen bases in 148 games, though he was also caught stealing a career-high 12 times. He again led the National League in power-speed number (27.4). He was second in the major leagues in hit by pitch, with 19.