Guardians six-man rotation passes first test thanks to Joey Cantillo's strong start

Right now, the Guardians have too many starting pitchers. Yes, this is still the same team that has been forced to start Kolby Allard on two separate occasions. But now the Guardians have an abundance of starting pitchers and may not have enough innings for all of them across the rest of the year. 

On Wednesday, Joey Cantillo added to that (good) problem by tossing six strong innings in the Guardians’ win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park in his first start since being recalled from Triple-A. 

While having too many viable starting pitchers is a good problem, the Guardians are going to have to get creative to make it all work for the rest of the season. 

Guardians six-man rotation passes first test thanks to Joey Cantillo's strong start

Cantillo’s promotion signified the Guardians moving to a six-man rotation, marking the first time the team has done so recently (Terry Francona was never a fan of them). Cantillo has pitched in every role for Cleveland this year, but he began to find his groove in the starting rotation and was sent to Triple-A with the goal of getting him to attack the strike zone more. 

He did just that on Wednesday, as 70 of his 104 pitches were strikes, and he recorded seven strikeouts across his six innings of work. After a season full of whiplash-inducing role changes, he looked like a big league pitcher. 

The Guardians also have some additional reinforcements on the way soon in the form of John Means, who is expected to throw 75 pitches for Triple-A Columbus later today.

The Guardians hold a $6 million option on the former All-Star for next season, so getting him in game action would allow the front office to be able to see what they have in him while also giving Means a bit of normalcy. 

Means has thrown just 52 1/3 MLB innings since the start of 2022, and it remains to be seen what his role would be if/when he joins the Guardians. 

The addition of Means could help struggling pitchers like Slade Cecconi, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, all of whom have ERAs over five in the second half. 

Cecconi and Allen have both already eclipsed their career-high in innings pitched in a single-season, while Bibee has taken a huge step back this year (even if the advanced metrics have shown that he’s been a bit unlucky). 

Gavin Williams has also already passed his single-season high in innings pitched, but he’s gotten better as the season has gone on. If the Guardians do end up sneaking into the postseason, he’s likely to start Game 1 of whatever postseason series they’ll play in. 

Couple that with the emergence of Parker Messick, and you suddenly have too many starting pitchers with not enough innings to go around.

Again, having too much pitching is a good thing in the long run, but it doesn’t change the fact the Guardians will need to get a bit creative to make it all work.