This Guardians Prospect May Be The Next Rookie To Enter Cleveland's Rotation

Joey Cantillo could be an option to enter the Cleveland Guardians' rotation following Shane Bieber's injury.

One rookie. Two rookies. Three rookies. At this point, why not make it four rookies in the Cleveland Guardians' starting rotation? It may be the only option they have.

Cleveland's original starting five at the beginning of the season has been decimated by injuries. Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Cal Qauntrill and Aaron Civale have all spent time on the injured list this season. 

The only pitcher from the Opening Day rotation who's remained healthy is Zach Plesac, who the team DFA'd in early June after underperforming. 

The rookies of Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, and Gavin Williams have done a tremendous job holding down the fort for the Guardians. However, they're still all rookies and Terry Francona has been extremely vocal about managing their workload.

The latest injury news about Bieber and the uncertainty surrounding McKenzie has now forced the Guardians to search for a new starting pitcher. The answer may come in the form of yet another rookie who's shown a ton of potential in the minors. 

Joey Cantillo, you're up.

Cleveland's 14th-ranked prospect (according to MLB.com) started the 2023 season at Double-A with the Akron Rubber Ducks. Cantillo was then promoted to Triple-A in May after an impressive first month of the season where he had an ERA of 1.85 and a 1.145 WHIP.

Joey Cantillo notched 15 outs for @AkronRubberDuck -- 13 (!!) came by strikeout.

The No. 17 @CleGuardians prospect lowered his ERA to 0.55 after a career-best performance: pic.twitter.com/XR1R1D39Eg

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 4, 2023

It's taken a little bit of time for Cantillo to figure it out with the Clippers as he's posted a 4.10 through his first nine appearances (seven of those starts). His 11.0 SO/9 proves that he has the stuff to be successful, but it'll be about limiting the long ball.

Joey was also selected to play in the 2023 Futures Game over All-Star Weekend which only fuels the hype around him. He ended up pitching 1.2 scoreless innings and struck out two batters in that game. 

Cantillo is not a finished product, but no prospect that's called up to the Majors ever is. He still has some development to go but the team may need for that to come in the form of MLB innings in order for Cleveland to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Guardians are going to need to make some difficult decisions in order to tread water until they can get some more of their starters healthy. Starting the clock on Cantillo may be a little bit early, but it's a choice that might have to be made sooner than later. 

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Photo Credit © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports