The Cleveland Guardians’ pitching staff was once again the backbone of the team in 2026, but they didn’t quite deliver enough in the postseason to help end the longest World Series drought in MLB. Aside from Gavin Williams, the rest of the rotation had plenty of room for improvement and can hopefully take the next step in 2026.
Cleveland was fortunate enough to mostly rely on the same five-man rotation all season, aside from Foster Griffin supplanting Slade Cecconi after the trade deadline. Joey Cantillo took a nice step forward in 2026 and made 30 starts to the tune of a 3.62 ERA, but the team didn’t have enough confidence in him to start him in the postseason, instead choosing to bring him out of the bullpen for all four of his appearances.
It brings about the question as to how the team might deploy him in 2027. Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes recently wrote that Cantillo will absolutely enter spring training as a starter.
“Left-hander Joey Cantillo, who made 30 starts in the regular season before being moved to the bullpen in mid-September, will go to spring training as a starter,” Hoynes said.
Cantillo was solid in the playoffs and surrendered just two runs in five innings, but he had the same issue in the postseason as he did all year. He has to get the walks under control as he issued six free passes in five postseason innings after walking a ghastly 81 batters in 159 innings in the regular season.
It’s likely the only thing holding him back from being considered in the same stratosphere as Gavin Williams and Parker Messick. At just 26 years old, he is just a few adjustments away from being considered one of the best young lefties in baseball, and with how good this organization has been at developing pitching, there’s plenty of reason to believe that Cantillo can improve in this area.
He didn’t do anything that should put him at risk of losing his spot in the rotation. This bullpen will be just fine without him and demoting Cantillo after a solid 30-start season could stunt his development. Hopefully Hoynes’ statement holds up and Cantillo shows up ready to make an All-Star team in 2027.
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