Guardians Executive Explains Decision To Carry Joey Cantillo On The Roster

The Cleveland Guardians made a couple of surprising roster decisions on Monday.

Well, Will Brennan being optioned to Triple-A qualifies only as a mild surprise given the fact Cleveland brought someone to replace him in Nolan Jones.

However, seeing Andrew Walters optioned to Columbus was shocking.

He appeared to be over the shoulder issue that delayed his build-up process in the spring.

However, the Guardians apparently wanted him to pitch a few more innings in a low-stress environment before throwing him to the wolves again.

As a result, they are keeping a starter in a relief role to open the year: Joey Cantillo.

Cantillo posted a 7.82 spring ERA, so yes, maybe seeing him on the roster and in the role he is being asked to fulfill raised some eyebrows.

Guardians’ president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti explained the reasoning behind the decision, though.

“#Guardians LHP Joey Cantillo will start the season in the bullpen. Chris Antonetti: “We wanted to make sure we had enough length in the bullpen to make sure we can absorb innings, especially as our starters are building up their workload,” Carly Mascitti of News 5 Cleveland wrote on X.

#Guardians LHP Joey Cantillo will start the season in the bullpen.

Chris Antonetti: "We wanted to make sure we had enough length in the bullpen to make sure we can absorb innings, especially as our starters are building up their workload." pic.twitter.com/eTC2YKTh1R

— Carly Mascitti (@carlymascitti) March 24, 2025

With that in mind, keeping Cantillo around for the start of the season makes plenty of sense.

Whether he stays on the MLB roster for longer than just a few weeks will depend entirely on him and his performance.

The Guardians probably want him starting full-time, so it’s easy to see him returning to Columbus at some point if the rotation is full.

However, who knows, maybe he will develop into a star reliever and stick around in the bullpen.

For now, the plan for him appears to be pitching multiple innings out of the bullpen.