Joey Cantillo’s father is from New York, his mother from Toronto. Before signing as the Padres’ 16th-round pick out of Kailua, Hawaii, in 2017, the left-handed pitching prospect was committed to Kentucky. UC Santa Barbara and Texas Tech were his back-up options.
“We have a saying in Hawaii – getting off the rock,” Cantillo said. “You grow up in this small town your whole life. Some kids want to stay home, but it was always in the back of my head: I want to get out of here, go to college at a big school in a big city and have that experience.