Cleveland Guardians' Slade Cecconi Is Proving He Belongs in the Rotation

Cecconi may have begun the season on a rocky note, but recently, he turned a new leaf and has helped anchor the pitching staff.

Jun 9, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi (44) reacts in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Slade Cecconi has stepped up big lately for the Cleveland Guardians.

While the rest of the starting rotation has wavered, producing some out-of-the-norm performances, Cecconi has brought consistency to the team across his last eight starts.

Since May 7, Cecconi has posted a mark of 4-4 while on the mound with a 2.95 ERA. Throwing nearly 700 pitches and 42.2 innings over that span, he has only allowed 42 knocks and has struck out 37 batters.

And on Tuesday night, he tacked on another nice outing.

To kick off a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers from American Family Field, Cecconi was on the bump for the Guardians. Although they ended up falling, 2-1, he pitched through 5.2 innings and allowed just three hits, two walks, one earned run and struck out four batters. The lone run allowed was a solo shot in the fourth from the bat of Brice Turang in a 3-2 count.

In the post-game press conference, manager Stephen Vogt shared that he was impressed with how Cecconi performed.

“Slade was outstanding," he said. "I don't know the exact number, but probably close to 75-80% first pitch strikes, getting ahead, working ahead. Weak contact you know, obviously, outside the one homer. I felt like he… you know, they didn't really do much against him. He got a lot of quick outs, did a great job, great pitch count, got deep in the game.”

He finished the night with six swings and misses, 31 swings on strikes and 19 called strikes, all while spreading out his pitches. He threw 19 sliders, 19 cutters, 16 sinkers, 15 four-seamers, 10 curveballs and three changeups, showing just how deep his bag is.

Building confidence, especially at this point in the season, is of super importance for Cecconi's long-term success with the team.

Over the course of the last three games, he has given up a combined four earned runs, with two outings being just one earned run posted.

When compared to the first six games of the year, where he allowed four runs or more four times and six runs or more twice, this efficiency on the mound has been a major uptick.

Moving ahead, the Guardians are going to have a tough time, especially without José Ramírez and Angel Martínez on the 10-day injured list with broken bones, reliability from the pitching staff is going to be important. As long as Cecconi can stay relatively up with this pace and the bats get going, the team should be able to maintain it's top spot in the American League Central standings.

Following Tuesday's game, the 26-year-old said that the absence of those players won't affect him or the team, as they all know how to step up and fill the newly found voids.

"I believe in all the guys in this locker room," he said. "That pitching staff, top to bottom, is incredible, just like ours. We're going to be playing a lot of close games against these guys. That's just how it's going to go. Got to keep grinding out at bats, keep grinding out pitches, working our walks, you know, finding holes, slugging when we get the chance.

"It's a game of inches, man. A couple balls go our way, we get a couple more runs, some things happen, you know. It's a tough game, but I trust all the guys in this locker room.”

Cecconi likely won't be back on the mound until Sunday, June 21, for the series finale against the Houston Astros, but the Guardians themselves return to the diamond on Wednesday, June 17, with hopes of returning back to winning ways.

The Guardians and Brewers will collide Wednesday night at 7:40 p.m. EST.