Cantillo, Guards' staff showing last year's dominance was no fluke

CLEVELAND -- Joey Cantillo played a key role in the dominant run the Guardians' six-man starting rotation put together last September, a stretch through which the staff ultimately willed Cleveland to the postseason.

Coming out of the gates this season, Cantillo and his rotation mates have picked up where they left off.

Cantillo spun a strong outing on Wednesday to lead the Guardians to a 10-2 win over the Royals in the rubber match of a three-game series at Progressive Field. The left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings while striking out nine batters (one shy of his career high).

Cantillo logged a 1.55 ERA in 29 innings over five starts down the stretch in 2025 after he was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sept. 3. The Guardians’ rotation collectively was stellar last September, ranking second in the Majors with a 2.60 ERA.

It’s early, but Cleveland’s starting staff entered Wednesday with a 2.77 ERA through 12 games this season. That ranked second in the Majors behind only the Yankees (2.14 ERA in 10 games).

“You go on a historic run like they did as a group, and as a unit, they're competing with each other every time out there,” manager Stephen Vogt said of the rotation. “They want to one-up the guy that pitched before them, and they want to set the bar high for the guy going tomorrow.

“It's a really competitive group, those five. I think what they accomplished together in September definitely ran into this year, and they all have confidence they made a historic run against some of the best teams in the league.”

The Guardians have now won three straight series after earning a split in their season-opening four-game set against the Mariners in Seattle. The rotation featuring Cantillo, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi and Parker Messick has played a key role.

The confidence Cantillo is emanating this year has been hard to miss.

Cantillo spoke this spring about the refreshed mentality he had entering this season, following his up-and-down 2025 in which he dealt with seemingly ever-changing circumstances. He opened the season in Cleveland’s bullpen, but was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on May 27 to stretch out as a starter.

The Guardians recalled Cantillo on July 3 while he was fully stretched out, only to be optioned again on Aug. 17 after eight starts. He was recalled once more two and a half weeks later, which gave way to his strong September. It was a season full of twists and turns, but also one that he was able to grow from.

“Going through what I went through last year, I think I just have a better idea of what I know I can do out there and what is being asked of me,” Cantillo said. “Just a better understanding of myself and the situation at hand in a lot of different moments.

“I think that's just something that you gain with experience. Last year, there were a lot of things that I had to learn, and a lot of things that happened that I think just made me better.”

Cantillo held the Royals to just one walk while facing the minimum through his first three innings on Wednesday. Kansas City got on the board in the fourth when Maikel Garcia hit a leadoff single and Bobby Witt Jr. drove him in with an RBI double.

In the fifth, Cantillo issued a leadoff walk to former Guardian Lane Thomas, who scored two batters later on a one-out Starling Marte RBI double. But the lefty then sat down Michael Massey and Garcia to end the inning and retired Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino to open the sixth to finish his day.

Cantillo only had nine big league appearances (including eight starts) under his belt heading into the 2025 season. Every pitcher experiences a learning curve in some form as they adjust to the Majors. We’re seeing Cantillo’s play out in real time.

Even on a day he wasn’t in peak form, he was good enough for the Guardians to win on Wednesday.

“To give us 5 2/3 [innings] on a day where we're pretty thin in the bullpen,” Vogt said, “going into an off-day, and then 13 [games] in a row just coming out of the off-day, that was huge for Joey.”