Blue Jays Nation’s countdown of the top 20 Canadian baseball prospects heading into the 2025 season continues with a relief pitcher setting himself up to make his Major League debut in 2025.

Hometown: Oakville, ON

Organization: Kansas City Royals

Position: Relief pitcher

Acquired: Fifth round, 2021 draft (KC)

Eric Cerantola is no stranger to getting drafted. He was first taken in the eighth round of the OHL draft back by the Owen Sound Attack in 2016 but chose to stick with baseball. A couple of years later, he was taken late in the MLB draft out of Oakville’s Holy Trinity High School by Tampa Bay but chose to attend college instead. Finally, after his senior season at Mississippi State, he was nabbed in the fifth round of the 2021 draft by the Kansas City Royals, inking a $500k signing bonus. He represents the second Quebec-born player on this list and the first of two reliever-only prospects.

There was some potential that the six-foot-five right-hander could blossom into a starter after being drafted since he had experience starting and relieving in college. The former Bulldog started 12 games for his alma mater while appearing in relief in 13, showing excellent strikeout stuff but struggling with command. Control issues at the tail end of his senior season led to him being left off of the Bulldogs’ College World Series roster.

The Royals saw enough promise to draft him early in 2021 and work on harnessing his control. After 10 starts in 2022 across single-A and high-A, Cerantola has mostly worked out of the bullpen ever since.

The 2023 season was a big success for the right-hander, managing a 3.66 ERA and 11.7 K/9 across 32 outings (four starts) in high-A and double-A. His 5.4 BB/9 shows that his walk issues didn’t completely go away, but he was able to limit hard contact while continuing to generate swings and misses. After striking out 18 through 12 innings in the Arizona Fall League last year, Cerantola carried that momentum into the 2024 season.

Across 24 games (seven starts) in double-A to start the year, he held a 2.78 ERA and 12.5 K/9. After being promoted to triple-A in early August, the Canuck focused on coming out of the bullpen exclusively, posting a 3.77 ERA and 12.6 K/9 through 13 appearances. The strong season placed Cerantola on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Royals prospects, a list that can be hard to crack for relief prospects. For the year, it was a collective 2.97 ERA through 37 outings for the former Great Lakes Canadian, racking up 72 2/3 innings with a 1.349 WHIP and a 12.5 K/9.

There’s a reason that the Royals farmhand has been so successful despite command issues: his stuff is absolutely nasty. He has received 70 grades for both his upper 90s fastball and hard curveball, which sits in the mid-80s. He also mixes in a changeup that keeps hitters honest but is a distant third pitch due to the dominance of his top two pitches.

With his hulking frame, the 24-year-old’s hockey background gives him some sneaky athleticism on the mound. The downside of his big body is that he can sometimes struggle with repeating his delivery, which may be part of the reason for the control issues that have plagued him so far throughout his pro career.

There is little doubt that Cerantola has the potential to be a high-leverage reliever. Even if his control issues never go away, his stuff is too good not to contribute to a big-league bullpen in some capacity. If he can reel in some of the walks and stay around the strike zone, he has the potential to be a big-league closer further down the line.

Cerantola will have every chance to compete for a roster spot in the Royals bullpen this spring. This is especially true after the team added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from last month’s Rule 5 Draft. If the club deems that he needs more seasoning, he will return to triple-A and likely be one of the first couple of players called up when a pitcher is needed sometime in 2025.

14. Dasan Brown

15. Émilien Pitre

16. Adam Maier

17. Liam Hicks

18. David McCabe

19. Calvin Ziegler

20. Jeremy Pilon