Joey Cantillo is our No. 14 Guardians prospect. Who should be No. 15?

Jan 27, 2023 - 3:00 PM

With an impressive 54% of the vote, Joey Cantillo is our No. 14 prospect for Covering the Corner, defeating second-place Jose Tena (12%) by 42 percentage points.

Another of the coveted returns in the Mike Clevinger deal with San Diego, Cantillo is the lone player who has yet to make his MLB debut, although that will likely end this season.

Cantillo was drafted out of high school as a soft-tossing left-hander with a fastball that was difficult to pick up on and some decent breaking pitches. He swiftly rose through the lower levels before he was traded to Cleveland, where the coveted pitching factory got its hands onhim.

Cantillo hasn’t played much with Cleveland, missing most of the 2021 season with assorted injuries and having a delayed start to 2022. But when he finally got a chance to show what he could do last year, it blew people away.

After topping out at about 88 mph as a prep player, Cantillo was suddenly reaching 97 mph and sitting in the low to mid 90s with his fastball. The results? A career-best 1.93 ERA at Double-A with a 2.51 FIP.

He struck out 35.5% of opposing hitters, and despite never pitching 6.0 innings, he whiffed eight or ore batters five times in his 13 starts.

Unfortunately, his shoulder started to ache due to the increased velocity and he was shut down for the rest of the season. According to a recent article with The Athletic, he could have pitched again if needed, but he had nothing left to prove at Double-A last year.

Cantillo likely will be throwing even harder this season, where he’ll get his first taste of Triple-A hitters. Health will continue to be an issue until he can prove he can pitch long stretches without injury, but don’t be surprised if Cleveland gives him a shot at some point after he was added to the team’s 40-man roster in November.

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Juan Brito, 2B (Age 22)
2022 (A): 497 PA, .286/.407/.470, 11 HR, 17 SB, 15.7 BB%, 14.3 K%, 129 wRC+

Acquired from the Rockies in November. Would not be surprised to see the Guardians bump him straight to Double-A to see how he fares with his advanced hitting tool.

Justin Campbell, RHP (Age 21)
37th overall pick in 2022 MLB Draft

Two-way player in college who can touch the mid- to upper-90s on the mound.

Jaison Chourio, OF (Age 17)
2022 (DSL): 175 PA, .280/.446/.402, 1 HR, 14 SB, 22.9 BB%, 12.6 K%, 140 wRC+

The younger brother of consensus top 10 prospect in all of MLB Jackson Chourio, Jaison had a solid pro debut in the 2022 Dominican Summer League (higher wRC+ than Jackson in 2021) and the hype is building.

Xzavion Curry, RHP (Age 24)
2022 (AA): 69.0 IP, 11 GS, 28.4 K%, 6.7 BB%, 3.65 ERA, 3.75 FIP
2022 (AAA): 53.0 IP, 10 GS, 23.5 K%, 10.0 BB%, 4.58 ERA, 4.98 FIP
2022 (MLB): 9.1 IP, 2 GS, 6.4 K%, 12.8 BB%, 5.79 ERA, 6.11 FIP

Another Cleveland pitching factory success story. Curry exploded through the system in 2021, then advanced three more levels in 2022 to make two spot starts at the MLB level.

Welbyn Francisca, SS (Age 16)
2023 international free agent signing

One of the most highly regarded hitting prospects in the 2023 IFA class; a twitchy, athletic fielder at shortstop.

Jake Fox, 2B/OF (Age 19)
2022 (A): 470 PA, .247/.381/.374, 5 HR,21 SB, 15.7 BB%, 19.1 K%, 118 wRC+

A high school bat taken in the 3rd round in 2021, Fox has shown patience at the plate at the lower levels, but we’re still waiting for louder hit tools to arrive.

Angel Genao, SS (Age 18)
2022 (ACL): 171 PA, .322/.394/.416, 2 HR, 6 SB, 9.4 BB%, 23.4 K%, 127 wRC+
2022 (A): 33 PA, .179/.303/.214, 0 HR, 0 SB, 12.1 BB%, 15.2 K%, 60 wRC+

Another talented, switch-hitting international middle infield prospect, Genao graduated to full-season ball in the latter half of 2022 as an 18-year-old.

Petey Halpin, OF (Age 20)
2022 (A+): 434 PA, .262/.346/.385, 6 HR, 16 SB, 10.4 BB%, 21.2 K%, 107 wRC+

Despite being young for his level, posted his second straight season with an above-average wRC+ in full-season ball.

Parker Messick, LHP (Age 22)
54th overall pick in 2022 MLB Draft

Heavy strike-thrower with the potential for four quality pitches.

Jose Tena, SS (Age 21)
2022 (AA): 550 PA, .264/.299/.411, 13 HR, 8 SB, 4.5 BB%, 25.1 K%, 91 wRC+
2022 (AAA): 23 PA, .368/.478/.632, 1 HR, 0 SB, 17.4 BB%, 17.4 K%, 194 wRC+

An AFL darling who has shown glimpses of greatness in small sample sizes. We’re still waiting to see it over the course of a full season.