The Cleveland Guardians may have found another reliable arm for their rotation.
Slade Cecconi just had arguably the best game of his career, shutting down the Athletics en route to a 3-0 win.
The win capped off a nine-game, three-city road trip for the Guardians.
As shown by Al Pawlowski on X, Cecconi tossed a career-high seven innings, and he only needed 79 pitches to cruise through the game.
Slade Cecconi went a career-high 7 innings against the A’s today.
He didn’t allow a run and only threw 79 pitches. That’s a high-quality start.
— Al Pawlowski (@AlPawlowski) June 22, 2025
The former Arizona Diamondback held the A’s to just six hits and one walk while striking out three hitters.
He tossed 53 strikes and just nine balls, and he totalled just 34 pitches in his final four innings.
Per MLB.com, Cecconi was so efficient that 16 of his outs, including two double-plays, came from three or fewer pitches.
Still, perhaps the biggest takeaway from Cecconi’s outing was his versatility.
He combined a four-seam fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, changeup, and even a cutter to keep the opposition guessing and missing.
He’s clearly working on adding more juice to his repertoire, as he has rarely thrown any sinkers or cutters this season.
The Guardians acquired Cecconi from the Diamondbacks late last year, but he had to miss some time during Spring Training with a left oblique strain that caused him to start the season on the 15-day Injured List.
He had to wait until May to make his season debut, and Sunday’s win was just his seventh start for his new team.
It might still be early to tell, but he certainly looked like a legitimate candidate to crack the team’s permanent rotation on Sunday.
NEXT: Stats Show Concerning Trend For Guardians' Offense In Last 9 Games
