The biggest lingering Joey Cantillo question got a little clearer this week: Cleveland plans to send him into spring training as a starter.
That matters because the Guardians already made one notable change with him late last year, moving the left-hander to the bullpen in mid-September after he had spent most of the season in the rotation. Still, the path forward for 2027 appears straightforward enough for now. Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes said it plainly: “Left-hander Joey Cantillo, who made 30 starts in the regular season before being moved to the bullpen in mid-September, will go to spring training as a starter.”
Cantillo’s 2026 season gave the Guardians reasons to believe he belongs in that role. He made 30 starts and finished with a 3.62 ERA, a nice step forward even if Cleveland’s trust level dipped once the calendar flipped to the postseason.
The team did not use him as a starter in October. Instead, he worked out of the bullpen in all four of his appearances.
The results in the playoffs were fine on the surface. He allowed two runs in five innings.
But the same issue kept showing up, and it was the one that haunted him all season: the walks. Cantillo issued six free passes in those five postseason innings, and he walked 81 batters in 159 innings during the regular season.
That’s the piece that keeps him from being mentioned in the same breath as Gavin Williams and Parker Messick. If he can clean that up, the ceiling looks a whole lot higher. He’s 26, he’s already shown he can handle a starter’s workload, and the Guardians have earned a reputation for developing pitching.
There was nothing in 2026 that should have pushed him out of the rotation picture. Cleveland’s bullpen can survive without him, and yanking him from a solid 30-start season would do more harm than good. For now, the assignment is clear: he’ll head to camp as a starter and try to turn a promising season into something even bigger in 2027.
In Other News...
Astros Just Poached A Guardians Hitting Mind Fans Should Notice
The Astros have added another familiar name from Clevelands player-development pipeline, hiring Conner Watson as their new director of hitting. Watson spent the past two seasons as the Guardians assistant director of hitting development, a role that put him in the middle of one of baseballs more closely watched organizational systems for turning raw tools into big league production.
For Cleveland, it is another reminder that its development staff remains a target for clubs looking to sharpen their own infrastructure. Houstons front office has been active on that front, bringing in Watson after recently naming Spencer Medick as director of pitching, and it is doing so while the Astros are still trying to fill both their general manager and manager openings. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Just Made Their First Base Direction Pretty Clear
Rhys Hoskins gave the Guardians a useful veteran bat after arriving on a minor league deal and earning a spot on the roster, but his stint in Cleveland never really changed the long-term picture at first base. He appeared in 95 games and supplied 13 home runs, yet the overall offensive return fell short of expectations, leaving the club where it has been leaning for a while now: toward the younger core.
With Hoskins now a free agent, the path forward at first base looks even clearer for Cleveland. The organization is expected to keep prioritizing left-handed, developing hitters such as Ralphy Velazquez and Kyle Manzardo, a sign that the Guardians are more interested in building around their next wave than revisiting a short-term fix. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Keep Stockpiling Pitching With Another Intriguing Young Arm
The Guardians have added another arm to their growing international pipeline, officially signing 17-year-old left-hander Nerio Reyes out of Venezuela. Reyes trained at CJB Academy in Maracaibo, and his arrival fits neatly with Clevelands long-running habit of betting on young pitchers with upside and room to develop.
Reyes is expected to make his professional debut in the 2027 season in the Dominican Summer League, giving the organization time to let him grow into his body and his craft. For a club that has steadily leaned into finding and shaping pitching talent from Venezuela, this is another reminder that the Guardians are still building the same way, one young arm at a time. [Read more 🡒]