{"id":76028,"date":"2024-06-07T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T16:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=76028"},"modified":"2024-06-07T00:10:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T04:10:50","slug":"pirates-trade-clippers-joey-cantillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/07\/pirates-trade-clippers-joey-cantillo\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardians Minor League Pitcher Should Be Pirates Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Somebody with Indianapolis, the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 triple-A affiliate, should have noted how well Joey Cantillo<\/a> would fit with the Pirates. On Wednesday, when the visiting Columbus Clippers took on the Indianapolis Indians, the Clippers\u2019 starter didn\u2019t garner much attention. His team lost 11-6, and several Indianapolis players stood front and center. Andr\u00e9s Alvarez<\/a> had four hits, including a triple. Canaan Smith-Njigba<\/a> walked twice, hit a double, and drove in two runs. Brenden Dixon<\/a> hit a long home run. Nobody noticed Cantillo, the Columbus left-hander who was limited to 2 1\/3 innings in his first game back from the injured list.<\/p>\n

Guardians Minor League Pitcher Should Be Pirates Target<\/h2>\n

Pirates Should Trade For Cantillo<\/h3>\n

At a glance, Cantillo\u2019s line for the day wasn\u2019t anything sexy. In those 2 1\/3 innings, he gave up two earned runs, two hits, and two walks while striking out three. He thus begins his triple-A season with a gaudy 7.71 ERA. But the second run scored with reliever Mason Hickman<\/a> on the mound for the Cleveland Guardians\u2019 triple-A team. To these eyes, Cantillo showed a major-league-ready changeup. It\u2019s a \u201cVulcan-grip<\/a>\u201d changeup that\u2019s a very effective pitch and would play well in the big time. Cantillo could thrive pitching for the Pirates, with PNC Park\u2019s dimensions favoring lefty pitchers.<\/p>\n

The Best Pitch In Baseball<\/h3>\n

In today\u2019s era of baseball analytics, there\u2019s a great deal of emphasis on velocity and break. We see them flashed on TV or at the ballpark after every pitch. However, I posit that the best pitch in baseball is a changeup on the outside corner from a left-handed pitcher to a right-handed batter. Righty hitters are, for the most part, pull hitters at birth. They start their swings early and can\u2019t cover an off-speed pitch outside the plate. It seems that left-handers can successfully throw that pitch all day. For example, we\u2019ve seen it from Tom Glavine<\/a> and Francisco Liriano<\/a> over the years.<\/p>\n

The most glaring example is Game 3 of the 1986 World Series<\/a>. The New York Mets were down 2-0 to the Boston Red Sox after two games at Shea Stadium. The Series was moving to Fenway Park, and the Mets\u2019 starter was left-hander Bob Ojeda<\/a>. Conventional wisdom says it\u2019s suicide to pitch a lefty at Fenway. Furthermore, this lefty was a former Red Sox spooked by pitching with the Green Monster behind him. In six years with the Sox, Ojeda was 44-39 with a 4.21 ERA and 1.418 WHIP. He came to the Mets in an offseason trade in time for the 1986 season. He was 18-5 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.090 WHIP for the 1986 Mets.<\/p>\n

“Well, I Got Traded”<\/h3>\n

His former teammates on the Red Sox were licking their chops. Ojeda\u2019s fear of the Green Monster was no secret to them. Oil Can Boyd<\/a> said, \u201cHe used to talk about not wanting to come inside to right-handed hitters in this park. He had no confidence pitching here.\u201d Asked to describe his success at Fenway, Ojeda was succinct. \u201cWell, I got traded,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe that describes it best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ojeda would win Game 3, 7-1, over Boyd. Ojeda pitched seven strong innings, giving up five hits and three walks. Taking nothing away from Ojeda\u2019s performance, it was an exhibition of bad hitting for Boston’s right-handed hitters. They knew Ojeda would be on the outside corner all night. But the six righties in the Boston lineup were a combined 4-for-20 and hit just four fair balls to the opposite field. They tried to pull the ball all night long. Creatures of habit, they couldn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

Meet Cantillo<\/h3>\n

Cantillo, 24, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 16th<\/sup> round of the 2017 June Amateur Draft out of high school. The Hawaii native was traded to Cleveland<\/a> in 2020. Today, he\u2019s the No. 10 prospect in the Cleveland organization. Across all minor league levels over seven seasons, he\u2019s 24-17 with a 3.08 ERA and 1.191 WHIP. Cantillo participated in the 2023 Futures Game, giving up no runs or hits in 1 2\/3 innings.
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