Means continues road to Guards with scoreless rehab outing

CLEVELAND -- John Means took another encouraging step in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on Friday, when the Guardians lefty began a Minor League rehab assignment with High-A Lake County.

Means started for the Captains against the Peoria Chiefs at Classic Auto Group Park. He tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just one single while striking out three. The lefty threw 38 pitches (30 strikes), a workload that was about in line with the Guardians’ plan of three innings for him entering the outing.

The Guardians signed Means, 32, to a one-year deal with a club option for 2026 on Feb. 19, about eight months after he underwent Tommy John while with the Orioles. It marked his second time undergoing the procedure, after he also did in 2022.

Means returned to live game action on Saturday for the first time since his surgery, when he tossed two innings in a “bridge” game at the Guardians' complex in Arizona.

“I chatted with him a little bit during the game [Thursday], and he's just excited,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said on Friday, before the Guardians’ 2-0 loss to the Braves at Progressive Field. “He’s just so happy to be back pitching. He's feeling great. I’m excited to hear the report tonight after he throws. I’m just super happy for him.

“Two Tommy Johns and the kind of back to back [nature of it], like the way it was. So it's got to feel good to be back out on the mound.”

Means has been limited to 10 starts since the start of the 2022 season due to the two surgeries. The Guardians signed him in Spring Training knowing there was a chance he could potentially contribute down the stretch, while certainly being an option for them in ‘26.

Assuming all continues to go well with his rehab progression as he builds up his volume, Means could be ready to join the big league roster in September. Rosters will expand to 28 players on Sept. 1, and Cleveland will be allowed to add one pitcher at that point.

Vogt noted the Guardians have not yet plotted out how Means could potentially factor into the pitching staff. He said Cleveland wants to make sure that Means goes through the full rehab process as a starter, “and if we’re fortunate enough to get to the point where he feels like he could go and we feel comfortable, then we'll roll with it.”

Means has been one of the game’s better left-handed starters when healthy. The 2019 All-Star has a career 3.68 ERA in 401 innings over 78 games (73 starts). In four starts in ‘24, he recorded a 2.61 ERA with 16 strikeouts and just two walks over 20 2/3 innings, before he underwent Tommy John.

The Guardians’ rotation picture currently includes Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo, who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on July 3 to join the rotation after Luis L. Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave amid an MLB investigation. Ortiz’s leave was extended through Aug. 31 on July 18.

Cantillo made his eighth start of the season on Friday, when he allowed one run on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five innings. He faced two over the minimum through three innings, but walked three Braves batters in the fourth, including Nacho Alvarez Jr. with the bases loaded.

“For Joey, it's the strike-throwing,” Vogt said after the loss. “You turn in five innings, one run, he gave us a chance to win. But at the same time, just the command. Continue to work. We see it at times. When his stuff's in the zone, it's really hard to square him up.”

Cantillo only allowed two hard-hit balls on Friday, and to Vogt’s point, he had a stellar 34.4 percent whiff rate over his first seven starts this season. For context, entering Friday, Dylan Cease led all qualified starters in the Majors with a 34.3 percent whiff rate.

Cantillo noted he has to do a better job of challenging guys and not beating himself. He has shown good signs since his first start; his walk rate was 14.6 percent in five July starts and 8.2 over his first two in August.

“An outing like that today can be really good,” Cantillo said. “Just got to do a better job of filling it up and being more consistent in that regard. There's been some better days where I'm attacking the zone. But you see it, like today. That's a good lineup, and it’s only going to make their job easier -- throwing more pitches and letting them see more stuff.

“Just one of those things. It's frustrating. We're here and we're working on it.”