The Rangers have been patching together their rotation for weeks, and Cal Quantrill suddenly looks like one of the few arms they can actually count on.
On Saturday, the former Guardians starter gave Texas five innings in a 3-0 loss to the Tigers, allowing two runs. That line doesn’t scream impact at first glance, but for a Rangers club desperate for stability on the mound, simply getting length out of Quantrill mattered.
Texas has already tried the quick-fix route. Last week, the Guardians got a close look at the problem when the Rangers brought in veteran Chris Paddack for a bulk outing in Monday’s series opener between the two teams. The next day, Paddack was designated for assignment, and the revolving door kept spinning.
Instead of leaning only on short-term veteran stopgaps, the Rangers have given Quantrill a bigger role after he had been working as the longman out of the bullpen. He may not be the flashiest answer, and his track record as a starter has been uneven, but he has been a better option than the other arms Texas has been cycling through.
Against Detroit, it was a very familiar Quantrill outing. He soaked up innings, but he produced only three whiffs and spent the whole afternoon pitching from behind after Riley Greene’s two-run homer in the first inning.
That kind of performance fits the profile of what Quantrill has become. He’s not the frontline starter the Guardians once hoped they were getting when they traded for him in 2020, but he has carved out a role as a veteran presence and a clubhouse leader.
His best year in Cleveland came in 2021, when he posted a 2.89 ERA over 149 2/3 innings. In 2022, he was solid again with a 3.38 ERA in 186 1/3 innings, though he was behind Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie in the rotation pecking order. Then came a rough finish in 2023, which sent him into a two-year stretch that included stops with the Rockies, Marlins and Braves.
Quantrill finished last season in the Rangers’ farm system, re-signed with Texas this offseason and made his season debut in April. At the time, he looked like just another arm the Rangers would move through the system as needed. That has changed.
Now he’s become one of the more important pieces on a team trying to force its way into the American League postseason race. That development could matter for Cleveland too, with the Guardians sitting in the second Wild Card spot at 47-44 and the Rangers right behind them in third at 45-45.
Quantrill isn’t expected to be part of Texas’ postseason rotation if the Rangers get there. For now, though, he’s one of the arms they need most just to keep the season afloat.
In Other News...
Guardians Just Lost A Pitching Safety Net They Could Not Spare
The Guardians have spent the season leaning on remarkable rotation continuity, sticking with the same five starters all year and getting steady results from a group that has carried a 3.80 ERA. For a club trying to keep its pitching plan intact, that kind of stability matters, especially when the organization is counting on the pipeline to keep feeding the big league staff.
Chris Antonettis announcement on Khal Stephen cuts directly into that depth. The pitching prospects surgery removes one of the more important fallback options the Guardians had stocked away, leaving Logan Allen, Austin Peterson and Yorman Gmez as the names most likely to be asked to help next if the major league staff needs reinforcements. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Finally Have An Internal Answer For Their Biggest Problem
Power has been the missing ingredient for Cleveland all season, with the club sitting near the bottom of the majors in home runs and still weighing whether the answer has to come from outside the organization. If the Guardians decide to shop for help, though, there are at least a couple of internal names worth tracking, and analyst Jensen Lewis pointed to two prospects who could eventually change the conversation.
Jace LaViolette, the former Texas A&M first-round pick, has been producing in High-A, even if the strikeouts remain part of the package. Ralphy Velazquez is the other bat drawing attention, and his path looks a little longer as he settles into Triple-A, with a realistic arrival window that points more toward 2027 than next season. [Read more 🡒]
Triston McKenzies Comeback Just Hit Another Painful Turn
Triston McKenzies path back to relevance has taken another rough detour, with the right-hander now looking for his next stop after a difficult stretch in the Padres organization. Once one of Clevelands most intriguing young arms, McKenzie had built real momentum with his breakout 2022 season before an arm injury in 2023 changed the trajectory of his career and sent him into a long fight to regain his form.
The latest setback came after a brutal run at Triple-A El Paso, where the command issues that have followed him for months never really let up. For a pitcher whose appeal has always started with feel and strike-throwing, the numbers told a harsh story, and now free agency gives him another reset point even as the unanswered question around his comeback remains the one that matters most. [Read more 🡒]