Cleveland Indians: 3 players on pace to breakout in second half

Cal Quantrill, SP, Cleveland Indians

Again, just hear me out on this one. It took Cal Quantrill a bit of time to settle in as a reliever, but once he did he was a strong option. We’re seeing the same thing as he moves back into the starting rotation. It wasn’t an adjustment that could happen overnight, but he’s emerging as the club’s best internal option to be the fourth or fifth starter behind the Big Three.

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If you look at Quantrill’s pitch count, it was slowly climbing and then in July it jumped into the 90s, tossing 94 pitches against Houston and then 90 against Kansas City. He’s officially stretched out to be a full-time starting pitcher in the majors. Luckily, his stats have started to level out as well.

In both of those 90-pitch starts, Quantrill allowed three runs in each. The first lasted 5.1 innings and the second went a full six. He’s also been able to cut down the walks, having two against Houston and just one against Kansas City.

The hope is that the runs can come down a bit, but the potential is there. Quantrill was the eighth overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft out of Stanford after lighting it up in college. I can’t say it enough, the potential is there. He just needs an extended opportunity.

Given the state of the Tribe’s rotation, that extended opportunity might be coming in the second half. Of the players that have auditioned for the starting rotation, Quantrill has pitched the best. That combined with his 90-pitch outings point to him getting his shot to be part of this starting rotation down the stretch.