Joey Cantillo News: Joining Cleveland rotation Thursday

The Guardians are expected to recall Cantillo from Triple-A Columbus to start Thursday's game against the Cubs in Chicago, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.

Cantillo will be entering the rotation as a replacement for Luis L. Ortiz, who was placed on leave Thursday per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation. Ortiz will remain on leave through at least the All-Star break, so Cantillo could be in line for up to three starts to close out the first half if he performs well enough Thursday to warrant additional turns through the rotation. The 25-year-old lefty had previously posted a 3.81 ERA in 21 appearances out of the big-league bullpen earlier this season, but he's moved back into a starting role since being optioned to Triple-A on May 27. Over his four outings with Columbus, Cantillo owns a 3.86 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 15:4 K:BB in 11.2 innings. Cantillo hasn't covered more than 3.1 innings in any of those Triple-A appearances, so he'll likely be in line for a relatively light workload in his first start for Cleveland.