CLEVELAND — Guardians right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi has hit a funk on the mound after piling up quality starts.
Cecconi took the loss Aug. 10 against the Chicago White Sox and Aug. 16 against the Atlanta Braves.
Losses happen, but the way Cecconi is struggling is concerning for a Guardians team that is in contention for an American League wild card spot and trying to stay close to the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central Division.
Cecconi was charged with eight hits, five earned runs, a walk and four strikeouts in a three-inning outing Aug. 10 as the White Sox topped the Guardians 6-4.
He followed that up by allowing 10 hits, eight runs (six earned), two walks, hitting a batter and striking out three in a 4⅔-inning outing Aug. 16 as the Braves beat the Guardians 10-1.
“I am not executing pitches at the rate that I need to be executing at,” Cecconi said Aug. 16 at Progressive Field before a crowd of 34,059. “I am not getting ahead and establishing the count in my favor. That is really what it boils down to, pitch execution and getting ahead of guys. … When you put these hitters in advantage counts constantly, it doesn’t matter how good your stuff is, they will find ways to make you pay.
“I need to get ahead and I need to be able to execute in those 0-0 counts. That is the biggest takeaway for me.”
The Braves scored three runs off Cecconi in both the second and fourth innings, and added two runs in the third. Nacho Alvarez Jr. hit an RBI single and Nick Allen roped a two-run double off Cecconi in the second inning. Michael Harris II smacked a three-run home run off Cecconi in the fifth.
“His spin pitches, he just didn’t have them tonight,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “They were not sharp. The fastball velo [velocity] was good. He made some pitches when he needed to, but just didn’t have either the slider or the curveball tonight to take them off of the fastball. Hung a changeup to Harris there. They hit him hard.”
Cecconi (5-6, 4.50 ERA) has made 16 starts and pitched 90 innings this season, his third in the majors. He pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 and 2024, and worked 27 innings and 77 innings, respectively. He made seven appearances (four starts) in 2023 and 20 appearances (13 starts) in 2024.
“The last two, it has been pretty clear that I haven’t had the feel for just about everything,” Cecconi said. “With that being said, this is baseball. You go through stretches likes this, and I am fully confident that I will make it out the other side. I am going to do the work to put myself in the position to make the adjustments that I need to make. I am going to work with the coaching staff on that starting tomorrow. We will be ready to go next time.”
Vogt was asked if Cecconi is tiring as he approaches 100 innings, and said: “We are talking about all of those things.”
“Obviously, Slade works tremendously hard to get himself ready to pitch,” Vogt continued. “Really, the last two [starts], it has been that way. Obviously, we are going to put our heads together, work with Slade and get him ready for the next one. … The spin hasn’t been sharp. I know that we are going to address that between starts.
“We are still getting to know Slade. We are still learning him and he is learning himself throwing this many innings, but we love our rotation. We love the way these guys pitch. So, we are going to keep working.”
Cecconi was also asked about his number of innings this season, and said: “We are doing everything we can to manage that.”
“I don’t believe that is the case, but it is a first for me,” Cecconi continued. “So, I am continuing to take every blow and every punch in the face in stride, get back up, figure it out and work to get better.”
The Braves piled up 14 hits and 10 runs off Guardians pitchers Cecconi and Kolby Allard. Matt Festa pitched a scoreless one-third of inning and Carlos Hernandez worked two scoreless innings.
Aside from Brayan Rocchio’s solo home run in the third inning, the Guardians didn’t do much against Braves starter Joey Wentz (six innings, three hits allowed) and reliever Hunter Stratton (three scoreless innings, three hits allowed).
Alvarez and Allen each collected three hits for the Braves. Harris, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna added two hits apiece. Ozuna stayed in the game after taking a Cecconi sinker to the helmet in the second inning.
“That is a really good offense,” Vogt said. “It has been. The people in that lineup are really good players. It is tough when they are starting to heat up and we are not pitching well. That is a bad recipe.”
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.