CLEVELAND — There always seems to be somebody who violates one of baseball’s unwritten rules by prematurely talking about a no-hitter when it’s in progress, and Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi found out which of his friends had committed the cardinal sin earlier this week.
It happened when Cecconi took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of a win over the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 8. Cecconi explained he uses the “do not disturb” setting on his smartphone during game days, but after he allowed just one hit and three walks with three strikeouts in eight scoreless innings, he discovered dozens of messages he had missed. In one of the many group chats blowing up his phone, Cecconi learned an overzealous friend had jinxed him.
“One of my buddies texted like, ‘Oh, Slade’s got no-hitter going,’ and then I gave up a hit,” Cecconi told the Beacon Journal. “Everybody in the group chat was roasting him, like, ‘Hey, idiot! Why would you say that?’ It was fun.”
Cecconi has helped the Guardians have fun lately while deploying a six-man starting pitching rotation instead of the standard five. The club went 6-2 in its first eight games of the six-man experiment.
Logan Allen took the most recent turn Sept. 10, when the Guardians fell 4-3 to the Royals at Progressive Field. The Guardians were ahead 3-2 when Allen left the game at the end of five innings. Later, their bullpen blew the lead.
Gavin Williams is scheduled to start Sept. 11 as the Guardians (74-71) seek what would be a crucial series win against the Royals (74-72).
When Major League Baseball’s slate of Sept. 10 matchups ended, the Guardians were 3½ games behind the Seattle Mariners (78-68) for the third and final wild-card playoff spot in the American League.
In a roller-coaster ride of a season, the Guardians have made themselves relevant in the playoff hunt with roughly two and a half weeks remaining on the schedule. The six-man rotation they launched Sept. 3, when Joey Cantillo started an 8-1 victory at the Boston Red Sox, has been a factor. Barring an unforeseen scheduling change, Cleveland’s off day Sept. 15 would end a streak of 17 consecutive games played.
“Running a five-man rotation out there for a stretch like that in September would be very difficult to do, especially this late in the season,” Cecconi said. “The bullpen guys, we want to keep those guys as sharp and as fresh as possible for the 2-0 games and the really close games that we have where we need to make sure we win.”
How has the Guardians’ six-man pitching rotation performed?
Of course, the sample size is small, but here is what the Guardians have done with their six-man rotation in place:
Sept. 3: 8-1 win at Red Sox. Starting pitcher: left-hander Cantillo (six innings; five hits, one run and two walks allowed; seven strikeouts)Sept. 4: 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay Rays. Starting pitcher: left-hander Allen (five innings; six hits, four runs – three earned – and two walks allowed; four strikeouts)Sept. 5: 7-1 win at Rays. Starting pitcher: right-hander Williams (seven innings; seven hits, one run and three walks allowed; three strikeouts)Sept. 6: 3-2 win at Rays. Starting pitcher: right-hander Tanner Bibee (6⅔ innings; five hits, two runs and one walk allowed; three strikeouts)Sept. 7: 2-1 win at Rays. Starting pitcher: Rookie left-hander Parker Messick (six innings; eight hits, one run and zero walks allowed; four strikeouts)Sept. 8: 10-2 win vs. Royals. Starting pitcher: right-hander Cecconi (eight innings; one hit, zero runs and three walks allowed; three strikeouts)Sept. 9: 2-0 win vs. Royals. Starting pitcher: Cantillo (eight innings; four hits, zero runs and zero walks allowed; five strikeouts)Sept. 10: 4-3 loss vs. Royals. Starting pitcher: Allen (five innings; seven hits, two runs and zero walks allowed; two strikeouts)
Cleveland Guardians video: Stephen Vogt reflects on 6-man rotation
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt discusses in this video the team’s recent use of a six-man starting pitching rotation.
What does manager Stephen Vogt think about the Cleveland Guardians’ starting pitchers during the MLB playoff race?
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said the team intends to maintain the status quo with the rotation at least through the end of its stretch of 17 consecutive games.
“I think it’s been good other than it’s hard to keep track of who’s pitching tomorrow,” Vogt quipped. “There’s one extra guy, one extra day. But I feel like they’ve all been sharp. I think the extra day of rest at this point in the year is really helping them have their best stuff.
“With how many innings these guys have accumulated and the number of guys that are [at a] career high right now, I think we like the way it’s been rolling. It’s appropriate for this time of year and the stretch we’re in.”
With starter Luis Ortiz and three-time All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase on paid leave because of MLB’s ongoing gambling investigation, the Guardians needed others from “the Cleveland pitching factory” to rise. The performances of Cleveland’s starting pitchers in the past week speak for themselves.
“Everybody pushes each other to be better, to be the best version of themselves,” Cecconi said. “I think we all root for each other when we’re on the mound. We’re on the same team. We’re not really competing against each other. We’re competing against the guy in the [batter’s] box, and we’re really just competing against ourselves, and everybody’s focused on doing their work, doing their job and then cheering on the next guy.”
A fascinating aspect of the Guardians using a six-man rotation is it’s a departure from the Terry Francona era. Under Cleveland’s former legendary manager who’s now at the helm of the Cincinnati Reds, the organization opposed the idea of a six-man rotation. One concern is too much time between starts could disrupt a starting pitcher’s routine.
“This is the first time I’ve experienced [a six-man rotation] that I can remember,” said Vogt, a second-year Guardians manager and former MLB catcher. “… It was a group decision. We don’t do anything alone here.
“We always collaborate and guys throw out different ideas of what we can do, how we can look at things, and when the idea of a six-man rotation got brought up, the more dialogue we had around it, it just kept making more and more sense, just with this particular group of pitchers for this particular stretch at this particular point of the year.”
Vogt insisted his arm didn’t need to be twisted to embrace the idea.
“I’m not skeptical of much,” he said. “I’m open to any and all ideas. Let’s just talk it out.”
The Guardians gave it a shot at a time when they could not (and still cannot) afford to lose many games. Their margin for error in the playoff race is thin.
“That’s how we’re viewing it — every game is a playoff game,” Cecconi said. “Treat it like that.”
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.