Slade Cecconi’s most recent start for the Cleveland Guardians went better than his previous one, but that isn’t saying much. The right-hander has struggled for most of the campaign, and he and Tanner Bibee remain the only members of the rotation who do not have a win yet this season.
On Sunday, Cecconi’s record fell to 0-4 with a loss in the series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. After giving up four runs in 5.2 innings, his ERA is now at 6.23 for the year.
Despite that, Cecconi revealed he just needs one “last piece” to get back into form.
“[I’m] just working on getting that curveball back to where it needs to be,” Cecconi said. “That’s the last piece — I feel like for me right now — is getting that pitch back to the weapon that it was last year.”
Cecconi was coming off his worst performance of the season. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits in five innings against the Houston Astros last Monday.
Against Toronto, he allowed two first-inning runs, and then gave up a two-run homer in the sixth inning that broke a 2-2 tie and led to Cleveland’s 4-2 defeat. Notably, the home run by Jesus Sanchez came on a curveball.
According to Tim Stebbins of MLB.com, entering this game, opponents were hitting .267 with a .467 slugging percentage against Cecconi’s curveball this season. They posted a .141 average and a .272 slugging percentage against it last year.
Cecconi’s role in the rotation was never really threatened during the Guardians’ six-man competition in spring training, even though he was coming off a 7-7 season with a 4.30 ERA. However, his regular season got off to a poor start, and it has not really recovered.
He gave up six runs over 4.1 innings in his debut against the Seattle Mariners. Cecconi did follow that by giving up just one run over six innings to the Chicago Cubs in a hard-luck 1-0 loss.
Since then, in his past four starts, he has allowed 17 runs and 26 hits over 20 innings. Cleveland has not earned a victory in any of his appearances this season.
Cecconi is next scheduled to pitch on Saturday against the Athletics, and he may have to show some more improvement to make sure his place in the rotation remains secure.
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