Left-hander Joey Cantillo is trying to earn a place in the Guardians' pitching pipeline to the big leagues.
Guardians’ left-hander trying to reserve spot in pitching pipeline to Cleveland
Updated: Mar. 06, 2024, 6:02 p.m.|Published: Mar. 06, 2024, 5:41 p.m.
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- We have been through this before.
The rotation breaks down in Cleveland and help arrives from the minors. Not just one arm, but arms in multiples.
In 2018, Shane Bieber arrived. In 2019, he was joined by Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac. They were all members of the 2016 draft class.
Last year rookies Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams walked into the locker room at Progressive Field to keep the rotation solvent. They weren’t all from the same draft class, but they were close. Allen was a second round pick in 2020, while Cleveland drafted Williams No. 1 and Bibee No. 5 in 2021.
When those three were otherwise occupied, fellow rookies Xzavion Curry and Hunter Gaddis combined to make 16 starts. Curry and Gaddis were drafted in 2019.
The Guardians don’t buy free agent starting pitchers, they grow them like rows of corn. They trade for them as well.
The worry is when does it stop? When does the pitching pipeline get turned off?
That does not appear to be a pressing concern. Remember, this is an organization that took 19 pitchers in the 20 rounds that made up the 2021 draft.
They deal bulk.
One name to remember is left-hander Joey Cantillo. Cleveland acquired him from San Diego in the Mike Clevinger trade on Aug. 31, 2020. Besides Cantillo, Cleveland received Gabriel Arias, Josh Naylor, Austin Hedges, Owen Miller and Cal Quantrill for Clevinger, Greg Allen and Matt Waldron.
Considering that Quantrill went 22-15 in his four years with Cleveland before being non-tendered and traded to Colorado over the offseason, this is the trade that never stops giving.
Naylor will open the season as Cleveland’s starting first baseman. Arias has a chance to be their starting shortstop and after a one-year absence Hedges is back to help Bo Naylor behind the plate. If Cantillo makes his big league debut this year, he could coceivably be on the mound with Naylor at first, Arias at short and Hedges behind the plate.
Cantillo, meanwhile, is making inroads with the right people this spring. In two appearances, including one start, he’s allowed one run and two hits in four innings. He’s struck out three and walked two.
In Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Seattle, he pitched two scoreless innings.
“This is a focused and determined kid,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “Every time he takes the mound, there is a focus and an intent. I want to watch him pitch, that’s the feeling I get.
“He’s got an opportunity to impact the roster at some point this year. He’s developed really well. I think he could be a big-time arm for us. But his focus and determination really stand out for me.”
Cantillo is from Kailua, Hawaii. Kailua, a suburb of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.
“If I wasn’t on the baseball field as a kid,” said Cantillo, “I was body surfing, body boarding, swimming, snorkeling and diving with my friends. We were doing all those kind of things.”
Cantillo is not thinking about riding the waves when he’s pitching. Vogt picked up on that early.
“I’ve always been a serious person, sometimes to a fault,” he said. “The last few years I think it’s been learning to balance the two things.
“When I’m on the mound, I’m definitely competing. I’m a competitive person. I want to be locked in. I want to have be laser focused. So whatever people are seeing externally, that’s what comes out.”
Cantillo said that attitude came from the baseball environment he was raised in.
“Baseball is big in my hometown,” said Cantillo. “I grew up in a competitive Asian community. There are a lot of older Japanese guys who carry down that old school approach to baseball. It’s a very serious, hard-working approach to baseball.”
Last year Cantillo, 24, went 7-4 with a 4.07 ERA in 26 games, including 24 starts at Class AA Akron and Class AAA Columbus. He struck out 146 and walked 69 in 119 1/3 innings.
Walks have been an issue for Cantillo, who throws a fastball, curve, slider and changeup. He walked 55, while striking out 111 in 20 games at Columbus last year.
“It;s a work in progress,” he said. “I know I have the stuff to compete with any lineup and go out there and get outs. It’s just a matter of doing it. No matter how hard you throw, you’ve got to work ahead in the count.”
Cantillo is well aware Cleveland’s success at finding, developing and sending pitchers to the big leagues. He watched the rise of Allen, Bibee and Williams last year.
“It’s not a fluke at all,” he said. “There are more guys in this room that are going to do the same thing they did.”
Cantillo would like to be one of them.
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