Cal Quantrill Is Apparently Not Capable Of Losing At Home

The historical context around Quantrill's success at Progressive Field will blow your mind - nobody has EVER done this before.

In a season where the Cleveland rotation has dealt with some challenging circumstances, Cal Quantrill has been a calming force.

Alongside Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie, Quantrill has consistently worked deep into games and given Terry Francona a chance to use his bullpen more sparingly. And that's in addition to giving Cleveland a legitimate chance to win each time he goes out there.

Perhaps it's better said this way: when Cal pitches, he doesn't lose.

Some of his success has been his own doing - Quantrill has had a really solid season. He's 12-5 with a 3.51 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, recording 114 strikeouts and issuing 43 walks over his 28 starts (164.0 innings).

But some of it is actually a bit hard to wrap your head around.

Quantrill's current 8-game win streak is the longest such streak of his career and is the best by a Cleveland pitcher since Mike Clevinger, who won 10 straight games back in 2019.

More importantly: in 41 appearances/31 starts at Progressive Field, he's never taken a loss.

He is 12-0 in his career while pitching in Cleveland. According to Bally Sports Great Lakes, Quantrill is one of just four pitchers with a record of 12-0 or better in a single MLB Ballpark since 1901.

Only Vic Raschi (14-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago between 1947-55), Chief Bender (13-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, 1903 - 1908) and Whitey Ford (13-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, 1950 - 1961) have better marks than Quantrill.

None of those three pitchers played on teams who had home games in those stadiums, which makes Quantrill's success on an entirely different outrageous level.

Quantrill didn't earn a victory Wednesday when the Guardians beat the Angels 5-3, but if he wins his next start at home, he would match Charlie Nagy for the longest win streak by a Cleveland pitcher at home in Progressive Field history. Nagy won 13 outings before taking a loss over a two year stretch from July 3, 1995 to June 21, 1996.

Quantrill went seven solid frames against Los Angeles, surrendering three runs on eight hits. He struck out six and didn't walk anyone. It also marked a career-best sixth time this season he's gone at least seven innings.

One rather obvious way to avoid taking a loss is to have your offense give you some breathing room.

Perhaps even more remarkable than his success at home (and certainly helping it come to fruition) is the fact that Quantrill's gotten a Terry Francona double-bubble bucket-sized amount of run support.

The Guardians have backed him with 72 runs over his last 13 starts. Only Atlanta's Kyle Wright has gotten slightly better backing during that stretch.

But it gets better - and this might be the weirdest statistical anomaly I think I've seen all season.

During the same stretch that the Guardians have given Quantrill all of that support, they've averaged 3.65 runs of support for the rest of the rotations COMBINED.

On the year, Quantrill has received an MLB-best 6.71 runs of support per nine innings.

Some day, this incredible streak is going to end. Maybe it will be because he had a bad outing, or perhaps he'll pitch a gem but the offense fell silent. But with any more luck, that may not come until at least next season as the Guardians chase a postseason berth.

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