CLEVELAND -- Will Dion had a few opportunities on Tuesday to look around Progressive Field to soak in the atmosphere. What he was experiencing truly began to hit him in those moments, such as when he walked out to the bullpen and later ran from it to the pitcher's mound.
Dion made his MLB debut in the Guardians’ 6-3 loss to the Nationals. The left-hander (whom Cleveland recalled from Triple-A Columbus earlier in the day) allowed two runs on five hits over three innings, walked none and struck out three batters.
“I can’t even put it into words, honestly,” Dion said. “It was everything I dreamed of and more as a kid.”
Dion’s debut was part of a strong performance by the Guardians’ bullpen, which covered seven innings in relief of Joey Cantillo after the left-hander struggled with his command in the shortest start of his career.
Cantillo allowed four runs on three hits and four walks and threw 69 pitches over two innings. Codi Heuer, Shawn Armstrong, Colin Holderman and Dion covered the final seven innings and scattered eight hits and one walk. Dion allowed a two-run single in the ninth.
“The bullpen did a phenomenal job,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “Will Dion was incredible.”
Dion (who was Cleveland’s ninth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft) was scheduled to play golf with some of his Columbus teammates on Tuesday. On Monday night, Clippers manager Andy Tracy and pitching coach Nick Wittgren told him he had new plans.
The Guardians needed a fresh arm in their bullpen after length reliever Logan Allen threw 83 pitches on Monday -- when starter Tanner Bibee lasted just three innings, surrendered five home runs and was charged with seven runs against Washington.
It was evident early in Tuesday’s game Dion’s number could be called. Cantillo walked two batters in a scoreless 29-pitch first inning. He also walked two batters in the second and allowed four runs and three hits -- including a two-run homer by James Wood. After Cantillo threw 40 pitches in the second, Vogt turned to Heuer in the third.
Vogt often preaches when Cantillo is in the strike zone, his stuff is tough to square up. Cantillo entered Tuesday with a 3.05 ERA in his first 11 starts, but noted he’s had trouble with the free pass recently. Cantillo has walked 11 batters in 12 2/3 innings over his past three outings, including Tuesday.
“The last couple outings, I’ve gotten away with some free passes,” Cantillo said. “I need to obviously do a better job of just throwing the ball over the plate. I didn't do a great job of that at all tonight.”
Cantillo threw 38 strikes on 69 pitches (55 percent). It marked his second-lowest strike rate of the season, behind April 19 against the Orioles (49 percent).
“I didn’t give us a good chance to win the game, and that’s my job,” Cantillo said. “I’ve got to do better.”
Dion entered in the seventh inning with the Guardians trailing, 4-1. He threw five pitches in a scoreless inning, when he worked around a leadoff single by Wood. Dion picked up his first career strikeout when he set down CJ Abrams looking to start the eighth inning and worked around a two-out single by Daylen Lile.
Dion struck out Keibert Ruiz and Curtis Mead swinging in the ninth. He allowed three base hits, including a two-run single by Andrés Chaparro that had a 75.5 mph exit velocity and dropped just inside the left-field foul line.
Dion threw 33 pitches (including 27 strikes). He quipped his knack for pounding the zone is due to the lessons he gained after issuing “a lot of walks” in 2024 with Columbus (54 in 116 2/3 innings). The one-time starter also transitioned to a full-time reliever this year, and a mentality adjustment has helped.
“It changed big time,” Dion said. “Just to have that, ‘I'm going to throw this with everything I got and you can't touch it,' [has helped].”
The Guardians’ starting rotation has been the backbone of a team sitting atop the AL Central standings. It entered Monday ranked sixth in MLB in ERA (3.46) and second in innings (307) this season.
The past two days have been frustrating, but Cleveland (which went 6-1 on its road trip to Detroit and Philadelphia last week) knows it can’t get too hung up on it.
“It feels really bad right now after those two losses,” Vogt said. “If we allow that to continue to be a mindset, then it can spiral. But we're coming off a great road trip. It's been two tough losses. That's the truth. That's it.”