Cal Quantrill to IL, Guardians recall Cody Morris

It appears that Cal Quantrill is no longer in the Guardians pitching rotation. This is not due to poor performance, although his recent outings would be more than enough of reason for that. Quantrill is returning to the 15-day injured with right shoulder inflammation according to reports. This is the same reason he landed on at the end of May.

It was an extremely rough two outings for Quantrill after his activation in late June. The Cubs and Braves combined to score 19 runs on 11 hits and two walks in 7.2 innings with Quantrill on the mound. Chicago and Atlanta ended up slashing .475/.500/.650 with a ridiculous 1.150 OPS in those two outings. While batting average on balls in play (BAbip) was not doing him any favors in those two starts (.514), Quantrill was not exactly fooling any hitters. It seemed that every hitter in both lineups knew to lay off certain pitches and attack others with relative ease.

It was very clear that Quantrill was not pitching at an acceptable level and it appears that the shoulder issue is the reason why. At least that is what everyone is being led to believe at this point in time.

With Quantrill returning to the injured list the Guardians found themselves in need of a pitcher to take his place. That pitcher is Cody Morris.

Cody Morris returns to Cleveland making a couple of brief appearances in the middle of June. Morris pitched two innings allowing two hits and striking out three battters against in two games in San Diego.

Morris was able to get a decent amount of work down the stretch late last season, striking out 23 batters in 23.2 innings. Walks were an issue for the then 25-year old righty, issuing 12 free passes in his seven appearances. Morris' walk rate has not really improved as he has seven in 14 innings in the minors this season.

With just four games remaining before the All-Star break, the presence of Morris seems to be rooted in if they need an arm at some point. The Guardians already have Tanner Bibee, Aaron Civale, Gavin Williams, and Shane Bieber slotted as their starters for their series against Kansas City. There is a decent chance Morris makes an appearance due to last Monday being Cleveland's last off day and having four more games in a row on deck.