Cal Quantrill Struggles With Command Against Cubs In First Start Back From Injury

Cal Quantrill gives up five earned runs as the Cleveland Guardians drop the series opener to the Chicago Cubs.

Things did not go the way Cal Quantrill wanted them to in his first start back after being out almost a month with injury.  He went on the injured list on June 2 with right shoulder inflammation. Quantrill was coming off a string of previous starts that didn't quite go in his favor and that continued.

Cal made his first start back for the Cleveland Guardians against the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately for Quantrill, it didn't quite go how he envisioned. 

He only lasted 3.1 innings while giving up eight hits and five earned runs. Quantrill recorded just one strikeout and walked two hitters. One of the biggest concerns was his inability to command the plate. 

Only 56 of his 85 pitches were strikes. When he did throw the ball in the zone, Cubs hitters hit it and hit it hard. Four of the eight hits that Cal gave up were recorded as hard hits by Baseball Savant.

After the game, Quantrill said, 

"Arm feels a lot better. I thought I threw the ball okay. They hit some good pitches and I made a couple of bad ones, but first one back ... It'd be more concerning if they were hitting balls in the gap or homers, but it's just not good enough. I didn't give the team a resemblance of a chance to win today and it sucks. 

The first question that fans, the front office, and the coaching staff are all thinking may be, "So what next?"

The original plan when Quantrill came back was to have a six-man rotation. However, after this start, they may need to reconsider Cal's role on the team. His ERA is now up to a 6.03 ERA on the season and the last time he went 6.0 or more innings was on May 13.

It appears that Cleveland has some decisions to make in the coming week. 

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