What's Next For Cal Quantrill, Guardians After Difficult Start Against Braves?

Cal Qauntrill's season ERA is up to a 6.45 after his start against the Atlanta Braves

Terry Francona, Carl Willis, and the rest of the Cleveland Guardians organization have a difficult decision to make with Cal Quantrill and the future of their rotation.

Quantrill has struggled largely throughout the entire season which includes before he went on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. Those struggles have only continued since he came off the IL.

Cal has now allowed a total of 31 earned runs in just 23 innings over his last six starts. 

His last start came against the Braves where he lasted 4.1 innings against the Braves allowing five earned runs, and 11 hits and striking out just three hitters. Four of those runs came in the first innings before the offense even had a chance to counter.

After the game, Qauntrill reflected on his start saying, "I thought I threw that ball pretty well, honestly. I just have to find a way to have those balls hit at people or make them miss 'em."

He also went on to talk about trying to find a groove after missing almost a month of Big League action and trying to get back into a groove. 

The biggest problem with how being able to go deep is that it burns the bullpen for the following day. Sometimes following two days. The Guardians had to use four total pitchers against the Braves when the game was all but decided by the third inning. 

At this point, it's hard to justify Quantrill staying in the starting rotation on a regular basis. He has shown regression this season while the Guardians have promoted three young and effective pitchers in Logan Allen (who's currently at Triple-A), Tanner Bibee, and Gavin Williams. 

Cal can still be an effective Big League pitcher, but at this point, it feels like that will have to be out of the bullpen. This wouldn't be new for him as Cleveland acquired him from the San Diego Padres as a relief pitcher.

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