The Cleveland Guardians welcomed back Joey Cantillo on Wednesday night.
The rookie hurler had one of his strongest outings of the season, helping the team rally to a much-needed 8-1 win in the series finale at Fenway Park.
Cantillo, who had been recently demoted to Triple-A Columbus, was in control and ahead of the count all night long.
He was out there for six solid innings, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out seven and giving up two walks.
When asked about his team’s chances, the rookie expressed his utmost confidence in Stephen Vogt’s troops:
“Every game counts,” Cantillo said. “Obviously, you see what this team’s capable of. Doesn’t matter how a couple games went, or a bad few days or a good few days, like you’re staying in it. This team can obviously go on big runs like we’ve seen. So just staying in it every day, taking it one day at a time.”
With the strong outing, Cantillo took his record to 4-3 with a 3.73 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts.
The Guardians will have to endure a span of 17 games in as many days, and Vogt revealed that they will use a six-man starting rotation during that stretch.
That will give Cantillo more opportunities not only to help the team but also to show that he’s ready to become a full-time starter next season.
He’s looked quite solid as a rookie, and with Logan Allen, Slade Cecconi, and Gavin Williams struggling with consistency, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them leapfrog one of them to secure a spot in the rotation for the 2026 campaign.
In the meantime, this team should focus solely on the task at hand, knowing that they can’t afford to drop many more games before the finish line if they want to keep their slim postseason hopes alive during the most crucial stretch of the campaign.
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