Cleveland Guardians baseball is right around the corner, and the team has named its probable starters for the first action of spring training.
Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt told media Monday that pitchers Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo will start in each of Cleveland's split-squad games Saturday. Here are some quotes from Vogt in Goodyear, Arizona:
On who will be the starting pitchers for the Guardians in their split-squad games Saturday:
"Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo will be starting both games. We're not sure who will be where yet. I'll soon as I get confirmation on that, I'll let you guys know.”
On whether there is a rhythm in who he wants to see pitch first, considering Logan Allen’s participation in the World Baseball Classic:
"Carl [Willis] maps out all the pitching. So obviously, Joey's been out here the longest, getting ramped up. So it's just more of that, that type of thing.”
On Joey Cantillo’s last six weeks of the 2025 season:
"I think when you look at 2025 with Joey, you know, he comes into camp competing for a spot in the rotation, makes the team as a bullpen, and really wasn't able to sustain that length, just with the way our season went, but turned into a very good, you know, short-term reliever for us. Then we tell them we're going to option you to go get built up. The injury happens. Then he gets built up, comes back as a starter, throwing well, with a few things to work on, we option him again, and then comes back in as part of that historic run that those guys went on. All the way to Game 3, the game plan was, ‘How do we get the ball to Joey?’ So if you look at that, just journey across 2025 to watch him handle all of those different things, never complain, never argue, put his head down, do the work, and we got to see what Joey Cantillo could be as a starter in this league. It was a really exciting year for him and for us, and really, really excited to see what's in store for Joey this year.”
On Cantillo’s change-up:
"I mean, it looks like a fastball. Obviously, there's no way to pick it up. But also, what it does is it makes… it creates a lot of hitters start to sit on the change-up, which then now the fastballs by them, talking about four plus pitches from Joey. And when you have to as a hitter, you can pick one, you can do all sorts of things, but you really don't know what he's gonna throw at the end of the day. So it's a change-up. I like to call it a ‘stop ball’. It just looks like the ball stops in mid air and drops, and definitely one of the better change-ups in our game.”
On Kyle Manzardo putting on muscle and advice to him on situational hitting:
"Just keep hitting. I think any hitter who's trying to drive the ball at the ballpark is going to struggle. For Manzo, with putting on the extra strength, he doesn't have to try anymore. When the ball's there, and he's ready to hit it, it's going to travel. And we saw it with Kyle multiple times throughout the year, using the whole field, using the middle of the field. He's a really, really good hitter, and he also happens to have power, and I think he's just starting to tap into who he could be.”
On seeing motivation develop in his younger team this off-season:
"Yeah, and I mean, you don't play in the league for 10 plus years by accident. You have to constantly learn more about yourself, how to take care of yourself better, what it takes. Because as you get older, it's harder to sustain it. And to watch a lot of our young players go into the off-season with goals and meet them, and for some exceed them, it just shows their maturity and their growth that ‘whatever I did last year wasn't enough. I want more,' and when we get 26, 40, 50, guys doing that, that's when you really start to see that sustained success. Because you have to motivate yourself to get better and to grow as an individual and as a player, and we have a number of guys in camp that did that this winter.”
On what Kyle Manzardo playing first 4-5 days a week at first base does for the rest of the team:
"I mean, it allows us to float the DH around. It allows us to get guys that we want to play more consistently off their feet, and get them a DH day without taking their bat out of the lineup. It allows us to do a lot of things. The goal, obviously… that's how we wanted Kyle to go through the winter to prepare. To be ready to play first base four to five days a week. How we shake out, we won't know until we get into the season and we get into the flow of it. But Kyle did a tremendous job putting on strength. He's been working on his speed and agility. He said he feels faster, he feels quicker. And a lot of times when you put on strength, you do get faster and quicker. So we're really pumped at the work that Kyle put in and continues to put in, and really excited for his future."
On where Juan Brito could fit in defensively:
"So obviously, Juan's, you know, main position is second base, but he's been working at first and third as well. So you're going to see him at all three spots throughout the spring, the switch-hitting ability, the offensive profile, we're really excited about, and he's a really good athlete that can play multiple positions. I don't know how much outfield he's going to play, but he has the ability to go out to right field. So just like a lot of our players, we want as much defensive flexibility, versatility as we can. So we just don't know how the season's going to shake out, and when you have experience at multiple positions, it creates an opportunity to get your bat in the lineup more often.”
On how Brito, being a right-handed batter who plays right field, can help the team:
"Well, I think we have what, four right-hand hitters on our 40-man? So, yeah, we're, if Juan Brito can play all of those roles, you know, obviously it's beneficial for him and for us.”
On Stuart Fairchild:
"Stuart obviously has a track record in this league of really hitting lefties well. You know, very good defense in all three outfield spots. He's, you know, someone who has worked tremendously hard and knows who he is as a player, and could be a really good compliment for us at some point this year. We identified him very early in the offseason as somebody that we wanted to bring in. He's a great teammate, great human. Excited for him to go represent, you know, his family's heritage in the WBC, but you know, we're going to see a lot of him early before he takes off and to try and get him built up to go play. Yeah, he and [Travis] Bazanna are going to play quite a bit before they leave. We need to get their innings ramped up.”
On David Fry:
"I see a free David Fry, you know. I think you know, last year, even throughout the whole season, it was like there were two different David Frys. You had from one o'clock to five o'clock. It was ‘Rehabbing David Fry’. ‘Oh, strap it on and go, DH tonight, or go be ready to pinch hit.’ And for him to be, you know, a fully cleared baseball player who can play in the field, and it's going to free up his mind. It's going to allow him to just go out and be David Fry and just continues to be the tremendous human being and leader that he is as well.”
The Guardians take on the Cincinnati Reds at 3:05 p.m. and the Milwaukee Brewers at 3:10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21.
