Joey Cantillo Bio
Joseph Lopaka Cantillo (born December 18, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed starter who came up through the San Diego Padres system before being traded to Cleveland, he made his MLB debut in 2024 and has since grown into a regular member of the Guardians’ rotation. Standing 6’5″ and known for his strikeout ability, Cantillo has emerged as one of the young arms shaping Cleveland’s pitching staff.
Early Life and Background
Cantillo grew up in Hawaii and attended Kailua High School in Kailua, where he starred on the baseball diamond. As a senior in 2017, he delivered one of the most decorated seasons in Hawaii high school baseball history, posting a 5–1 record and a 1.24 earned run average (ERA) on the mound while also batting .517. His performance that year earned him the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year award for the state of Hawaii, recognition that helped establish him as one of the top pitching prospects in the 2017 draft class.
Coming out of high school, Cantillo was committed to play college baseball at the University of Kentucky, a program with a long track record of developing major league arms. That commitment, however, would not ultimately be tested, as his senior season was strong enough to convince a major league organization to invest a draft pick in him. His Hawaiian roots and his background as a two-way player shaped his profile as a prospect, blending power pitching with surprising athleticism at the plate.
Path to Professional Baseball
The San Diego Padres selected Cantillo in the 16th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, using the 468th overall pick on the young left-hander. He signed with the Padres for a $302,500 signing bonus, opting to begin his professional career immediately rather than honor his college commitment to Kentucky. Cantillo made his professional debut that same summer with the Rookie-level Arizona League Padres, where he worked eight innings and posted a 4.50 ERA in his earliest taste of pro ball.
In 2018, Cantillo returned to the Arizona League and elevated his performance, going 2–2 with a 2.18 ERA over 11 appearances (nine starts) and striking out 58 batters in 45⅓ innings. He made a brief late-season appearance with the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Single-A Midwest League, earning his first taste of full-season affiliate ball. Across 2019, Cantillo broke out with Fort Wayne, going 9–3 with a 1.98 ERA, striking out 128 batters in 98 innings over 19 starts, and earning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors three times along with Pitcher of the Month for June. That production earned him a midseason promotion to the Lake Elsinore Storm of the High-A California League, where he made three starts before being shut down for the remainder of the year after reaching his innings limit.
Joey Cantillo Career
Early Career (2017–2019)
Cantillo’s early professional years were a steady climb through the Padres’ minor league system, beginning in the Arizona League and culminating in a High-A promotion. His 2019 season with Fort Wayne stood out as his clearest statement of prospect status, as he dominated Midwest League hitters with a sub-2.00 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning. The Padres’ developmental staff used that year to refine his command and build his durability as a starting pitcher, work that paid off in a late-season trial at Lake Elsinore.
Traded to Cleveland (2020–2023)
On July 31, 2020, Cantillo was part of a major trade that sent him, along with Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Gabriel Arias, and Owen Miller, from the San Diego Padres to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen, and Matt Waldron. The 2020 minor league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so he did not pitch in a game that year. He began 2021 on the injured list with abdominal soreness and, after being activated in late August, joined the Akron RubberDucks of the Double-A Northeast, where he struggled to a 0–2 record across eight innings.
Cantillo returned to Akron in 2022 and produced his most effective minor league work to that point, going 4–3 with a 1.93 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 60⅔ innings across 14 games (13 starts) before a shoulder injury in early August ended his season. On November 15, 2022, the Guardians selected his contract and added him to the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft. He opened 2023 back in Akron before being promoted to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on May 18, 2023, and was later selected to represent the Guardians at the 2023 All-Star Futures Game. Across Akron and Columbus in 2023, he posted a combined 7–4 record and 4.07 ERA with 146 strikeouts in 119⅓ innings.
MLB Debut and Guardians Era (2024–Present)
Cantillo opened 2024 in Triple-A Columbus before earning his first major league call-up on July 28, 2024. He made his MLB debut that day as Cleveland’s starting pitcher against the Philadelphia Phillies, pitching 3⅓ innings and allowing three earned runs and three walks while striking out three. Over nine games (eight starts) with the Guardians in 2024, Cantillo went 2–4 with a 4.89 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 38⅔ innings, getting his first extended look at major league hitters.
Cantillo opened the 2025 season in Cleveland’s bullpen before being optioned back to Columbus in May, with plans to return as a starter. After starter Luis Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by MLB due to an ongoing investigation into gambling-related activities, Cantillo was recalled to the Guardians as a starting pitcher on July 3, 2025. He was optioned to Columbus for two-and-a-half weeks in August to continue developing as a starter before returning to Cleveland on September 3. He finished the 2025 season with a 5–3 record, a 3.21 ERA, and 108 strikeouts across 34 games, and was named American League Rookie of the Month for September after posting a 1.55 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 29 innings across five starts.
Driving Style and Strengths
Cantillo is a tall, left-handed pitcher whose game is built around swing-and-miss stuff and the ability to miss bats at every level of the minor leagues. His strikeout totals, including 128 in 98 innings in 2019 and 146 in 119⅓ innings in 2023, have consistently pointed to a pitcher who projects as a mid-rotation starter when his command catches up to his stuff. Cleveland’s developmental staff has used his time in the bullpen and at Triple-A to refine his pitch efficiency and prepare him for a full starter’s workload.
Notable Events and Milestones
Cantillo’s first major league start, a July 28, 2024 outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, marked the realization of a career that began with a 16th-round pick in 2017. His selection to the 2023 All-Star Futures Game recognized his standing among baseball’s top young prospects, and his American League Rookie of the Month honor in September 2025 confirmed his arrival as a contributor in the Guardians’ rotation.
Joey Cantillo Career Highlights
MLB Career
Through his first two major league seasons, Cantillo has compiled a combined record and ERA in line with a young starter still finding his footing in the big leagues, finishing 2025 with a 5–3 record, a 3.21 ERA, and 108 strikeouts. His most recent standout stretch came in September 2025, when he went on a dominant run as a starter and earned American League Rookie of the Month honors, a clear sign of the trajectory Cleveland believes he is on.
Minor League and Amateur Achievements
Cantillo’s amateur and minor league resume includes Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year honors in Hawaii in 2017, a 2019 Midwest League Pitcher of the Month award for June, and a 2023 All-Star Futures Game selection. His 1.98 ERA across 98 innings with Fort Wayne in 2019 and his 1.93 ERA with Akron in 2022 highlight a pattern of strong performance at every minor league stop before his promotion to the majors.
Joey Cantillo Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Cantillo’s father is a naval officer of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother is a nurse of Guyanese descent. He is named after the Hall of Fame center fielder Joe DiMaggio, a nod to his family’s appreciation for baseball history.
Personal Life
Public details about Cantillo’s personal life are limited, and he has kept his family and relationships largely out of the public eye while focusing on his development as a major league pitcher.
2025 Season Performance
Cantillo’s 2025 season was a story of patience and persistence, beginning in the Guardians’ bullpen before returning to a starting role. He was optioned to Columbus in May with the explicit goal of stretching him back out as a starter, a plan accelerated when Luis Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by MLB in connection with an ongoing gambling-related investigation. Recalled on July 3, 2025, Cantillo seized the opportunity and anchored a rotation spot for the rest of the year.
He was briefly optioned to Columbus for two-and-a-half weeks in August to continue his development as a starter before returning to Cleveland on September 3. Down the stretch, he became one of the Guardians’ most reliable arms, finishing the year with a 5–3 record, a 3.21 ERA, and 108 strikeouts across 34 games. His September 2025 surge, in which he posted a 1.55 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 29 innings across five starts, earned him American League Rookie of the Month honors and solidified his place in Cleveland’s long-term plans.
