Gavin Williams will start in a different spot in the Cleveland Guardians' rotation, and there's a good reason for it.
If the Cleveland Guardians had followed their normal pattern with their starting rotation since Opening Day, Gavin Williams would have started on Saturday evening, with Joey Cantillo going on Sunday.
However, that isn’t what happened. Williams’ start was pushed back a day to Cleveland’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds, with Cantillo pitching during the second game of the series.
Don’t worry; this move by the Guardians wasn’t because of an injury or another unforeseen circumstance. Stephen Vogt explained that it’s simply a strategic decision for Cleveland to help create some more balance in their rotation moving forward.
“We’ve been looking for a while now to get someone in between Tanner [Bibee] and Gavin [Williams] to kind of split them up,” Vogt explained.
Cantillo and his 3.40 ERA and 1.35 WHIP this season are a great option to do just that. Now is the best time for the Guardians to make this adjustment for a couple of reasons.
One, Cantillo proved in his start against the Los Angeles Angels that he has what it takes to pitch. Plus, the recent off day made it possible to push back Williams without forcing Cantillo to pitch on short rest.
May 10, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch duiring the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images“We’ve been talking about that since early in the year and this last off day [Thursday] and kind of the way Joey pitched [last] Sunday, being efficient, we felt like it was the right time to make that switch,” continued Cleveland’s skipper.
Coming into the season, Bibee and Williams were projected to be the top two starters in Cleveland’s rotation. Williams has lived up to that hype, while Bibee has struggled with consistency at times. This adjustment directly affects Cantillo and Williams, but it could help Bibee perform better, too.
Adding Cantillo in the middle of these two to break up the top right-handers in the rotation will definitely create more balance for the Guardians’ rotation and force opposing teams to make some tough lineup decisions throughout a series.
That’s what Cleveland is hoping will happen, and now we’ll see if it actually comes to fruition.
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