Forgotten Guardians rotation stalwart resurfaces with Rangers bullpen callup

He’s back. 

After a disastrous 2025 season spread across two separate teams, former Guardians starter Cal Quantrill made his return to MLB on Wednesday thanks to the Texas Rangers selecting his contract from Triple-A. 

But that activation is coming in a role Quantrill’s never filled in the bigs — a reliever. 

Former Guardians starter Cal Quantrill is working out of the Rangers’ bullpen 

Quantrill joined the Rangers this offseason on a minor league deal on the back of his struggles last season where he had a 6.04 ERA in 117 2/3 innings with the Braves and Marlins and was designated for assignment twice. 

He finished last season in Texa’s minor league system.

Those numbers are a far cry from when he was at his best with the Guardians. His best season in Cleveland came in 2021 when he had a 2.89 ERA in 149 2/3 innings and was arguably the most consistent player in Cleveland’s rotation. 

While that season didn’t get a ton of attention since it came on a Guardians team that finished far away from the postseason, it was still a promising showing. 

He followed that up with a 3.38 ERA in 186 1/3 innings in 2022, but had a 5.24 ERA in 99 2/3 innings the season prior and was subsequently designated for assignment. 

Quantrill latched on with the Colorado Rockies in the following season, but failed to handle the altitude there and finished the year with a 4.98 ERA in 148 1/3 innings. 

But now it seems like he’s going to shift over to a bullpen role with the Rangers, who just lost relievers Chris Martin and Luis Curvelo to the injured list.

Although Texas’ bullpen seems to have found their closer in the form of old friend Jakob Junis, they’ve struggled in the middle innings and are in desperate need of an innings-eater, which is where Quantrill comes in. 

He had been working as a starter in Triple-A and had a 5.14 ERA in 14 innings to go along with 13 strikeouts and just four walks. 

Although Quantrill hasn’t been an above-average starter since his time with the Guardians, a move to the bullpen could help soak a bit more out of his arsenal since he’ll have the ability to put more on every pitch. 

He also has solid command (71st percentile in walk rate last season), so he should be able to avoid giving out walks, which can be a death blow to any reliever.

Although Quantrill likely won’t generate a ton of headlines during his time with the Rangers, he’s going to be holding down an important role since the longman is usually called upon to keep a game close or hold a lead in the middle innings. 

At the very least, he’ll be able to eat some innings on a day where Texa’s pitchers don’t have it (much like Kolby Allard did for the Guardians last week). 

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