Joey Cantillo's Growth on the Mound Results in Cleveland Guardians Winning Games

On August 17, 2025, the Cleveland Guardians optioned Joey Cantillo to Triple-A Columbus.

The then 25-year-old was going through a rough patch, unable to find a groove while on the mound and struggling. The Guardians' front office had hoped that the decision to send him down would allow him to work on his mechanics before returning to the big league roster ahead of the 2025 postseason.

Well, he did just that and looked practically brand new when he eventually returned to the big leagues.

Cantillo would go on to toss a 1.55 ERA with a 4-1 record over the last five games of 2025, with the Guardians going on to come back from a 15.5-game deficit to finish first in the American League Central.

And to start 2026, Cantillo has kept that momentum going and is looking like one of the better arms in the division.

"I think just going through what I went through last year, I just a better idea of what I know I can do out there and what is being asked of me and just a better understanding of myself and the situation I had in a lot of different moments, and I think that’s just something that you gain with experience," Cantillo said in a recent postgame interview. "Like last year, there are a lot of things that I had to learn and a lot of things that happened that I think just made me better."

On Wednesday, April 8, the young rotational arm tossed a beauty against the Kansas City Royals in a 10-2 win, snagging the series, 2-1, in the process. The Guardians still have yet to lose a series this season, in part due to the contributions from Cantillo. When he's on the mound to start, the team is undefeated in 2026.

Across 5.2 innings of action in the game against the Royals, Cantillo tossed nine strikeouts and gave up just three hits, two walks and a single earned run. He set up the bullpen nicely to finish off the game strong, with the final three arms giving up nothing else on the scoreboard.

This seems to be a regular right now for Cantillo, as in starts against the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers, he looked just as reliable.

Against the Mariners, he gave up just two earned runs while striking out five, and allowed just one earned run while striking out six against the Dodgers.

Cantillo credits his growth mentally, something that the Guardians' coaching staff has recognized throughout the year.

"[He's] more sure of himself," manager Stephen Vogt said when asked about the differences from last year to this year. "I think last year, Joey was really trying to find himself as a big league starter. And what we’ve seen so far, last September and now rolling into this year, is he knows who he is, and he knows what he needs to do to go compete.

"Like I said, that’s an outing that we’ve seen get away from Joey multiple times and didn’t today. And it’s real growth from him."

#Guardians manager Stephen Vogt on the differences from 2025 Joey Cantillo to 2026 Joey Cantillo:

"[He's] more sure of himself. I think last year, Joey was really trying to find himself as a big league starter. And what we’ve seen so far, last September and now rolling into this…
— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) April 8, 2026

In 2025, Cantillo did have moments where he looked flustered and like he couldn't quite calm himself down enough to keep the game in hand, as Vogt mentioned.

One of the most prominent examples was back on May 10, in a 7-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he pitched 1.1 innings, giving up seven hits, five earned runs, one home run and one walk. The following game, he stepped foot on the mound four days later, and he gave up two hits and two earned runs, including a homer, in just two innings.

That's the type of play it seems Cantillo has put behind him, as his new strong mental game seems to be holding him level when innings start to waver.

In the win over the Royals, he could have easily lost control of the fourth or fifth innings. In both, the Royals were able to get on the board, one from an earned run on a double and the other on a double with an error, making it an unearned run.

For a young arm, seeing runs be tacked onto the board out of the blue can be rattling, but Cantillo stayed in and remained focused.

If Cantillo can keep doing exactly what he's doing now, Cleveland's rotation is going to be in great hands moving forward.

And they may have found the perfect reliable mid-rotation starter of the future.