3 Cleveland Guardians who have gotten off to an impressive start in 2025

Joey Cantillo - Relief Pitcher

One of the biggest questions entering this season for the Cleveland Guardians is if their bullpen was going to be able to withstand another year of heavy use. Ideally, this would come from the starting rotation lasting longer, more consistently, but since that has been a struggle early on, Cleveland's relief corps have been called into action quite frequently. While not everyone is pitching at their peak performance level, Guardians' left-hander Joey Cantillo has begun the year strong out of Cleveland's bullpen.

Cantillo has allowed just one run on seven hits while striking out 12 and walking four in 9.1 innings of work across five games. Opponents are slashing .189.268/.243 against Cantillo, with the only extra-base hits coming against him being two doubles. The 25-year-old left-hander is proving that he can be a meaningful contributor to what should be one of the sport's best bullpens over the course of this season.

There is another aspect here worth noting. As a lefty reliever, Cantillo being a reliable option gives the Guardians a second option alongside Tim Herrin to face left-handed batters. Having more than one option for Stephen Vogt to turn to out of the pen will lessen the workload for both arms and should prolong their effectiveness, and that should help come playoff time.