Cal Quantrill gives up eight in Guardians loss to O's

Of all the possible and probable outcomes that could have come with Cal Quantrill on the mound in Baltimore, Tuesday's outing was not one that the Guardians would have signed up for. Quantrill lasted just 4.1 innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits and two walks. The eight run deficit was too much for the Guardians to overcome, even though they did manage to put up five runs in the loss.

Quantrill was coming off his worst start of the season, giving up six runs in 4 innings against the White Sox, and this was supposed to be a step back in the right direction. Instead, Quantrill now has a new worst start of the season after the events at Orioles Park at Camden Yards.

While the 28-year old is coming off his worst 8.1 inning stretch of the year, it has not been entirely all bad for Quantrill. Prior to last week's debacle against Chicago, Quantrill had allowed just eight runs in 26 innings during the month of May. There seems to be a level of serviceable pitching that Quantril is capable of providing, it just does not happen enough at the moment and that is an issue.

These recent struggles from Quantrill come at a time where the Guardians are getting close to bringing back two pitchers in Aaron Civale and Triston McKenzie. Hunter Gaddis has already been moved to the bullpen upon Civale's arrival, but maybe Quantrill follows when McKenzie makes his return. It is going to be incredibly hard to justify sending either Tanner Bibee or Logan Allen back to Columbus, so moving an arm in Quantrill who would be probably utilized best as a multi-inning reliever out of the bullpen seems to make the most sense. Quantrill is still listed as a member in the rotation, but when rest of the Guardians rotation gets healthy it would not be surprising to see him in a new role.