Guardians pitcher shares major shoutout for Cleveland after Wild Card loss

The Cleveland Guardians took a chance on right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi.

In a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December, the Guardians traded fan-favorite and power-hitting first baseman Josh Naylor in exchange for Cecconi. At the time, he was a project pitcher with many hiccups in his game needing to be ironed out.

The risk the Guardians took on exchanging what was believed to be a franchise cornerstone in Naylor for Cecconi paid off in 2025. Not only with success on the mound, but undeniable loyalty to the City of Cleveland and its diehard supporters.

He was on the mound for the organization with the season on the line against the Detroit Tigers in Game Three of the Wild Card round, where the team fell 6-3. He pitched through 2.1 innings of action, just a low mark of 47 pitches, where he allowed one earned run, two hits and a walk while striking out three.

"I didn't know when I was gonna come out, but I knew it was every man on deck," Cecconi said following the game. "I think if there wasn't somebody on, I might have had a little bit longer lead. But every run counts in these games."

The decision to take him out of the game after allowing back-to-back singles weighs more on the knowledge of manager Stephen Vogt and what the Tigers can do with an inch of momentum, and less on the play of Cecconi.

After the loss, the 26-year-old righty spoke to the media and hammered home that Cleveland very well may be his new home.

"Anything can happen in this game at any point in time, but I really feel strongly that this is my home and that the people in this building are genuine in everything that they say and do," he said. "And I would love to be here for a long time."

The former first-round pick has had ups and downs in 2025, but that's understandable for a player who was trying to settle into a new organization. This exchange between Cleveland and Arizona was the first time he had been traded since entering professional baseball.

Prior to his time in The Land, he played two seasons for the Diamondbacks for a total of 27 games and 17 starts on the mound. He put together a worrysome 6.06 ERA, but showcased a small glimpse of hope in his lack of walks. He threw just 21 walks in two seasons while striking out 84, for a 4.00 strikeout to walk rate.

"The nice thing about this offseason is there shouldn't be any large-scale changes like there were last offseason," Cecconi said. "It's gonna be more of, instead of developing new tools and skill sets, it's gonna be more of a sharpening. Those tools and skill sets getting bigger and stronger... I wouldn't mind coming in a little bit bigger and stronger with a little bit more thump."

With the Guardians, his walk rate bounced up a bit, but his hits per nine innings dropped. He was able to bring down that hit mark from 10.8 in 2024 to 8.5 in 2025. The Guardians' coaching staff is obviously making the right changes, and the future can only be up from here for Cecconi.

"I can't thank the staff here enough and the people that are in this building enough for what they've done for me and for everyone else this year," he said. "And we're gonna build on it."

He finished the impressive Guardians' season with just seven earned runs given up over his last five starts, while striking out 21 batters. His effort on the mound was good enough for a 3-2 record, with crucial wins over Kansas City, Chicago and Minnesota when it mattered the most in early September.

"There's a lot of mixed feelings," Cecconi said following the loss on Thursday. "The predominant feeling is... because everybody on this team right now, the lows and the highs together... And for it to come to a halt this quickly feels terrible. But with those feelings, you don't wanna lose what we did and what we accomplished from where we were, we did something that no team has ever done before in this league."

The Guardians now look to the offseason to build on the young talent they began developing throughout 2025.

And with Cecconi helping lead the charge on the mound for Cleveland, they should be in good hands moving forward.