Slade Cecconi Posts Season-Best Seven Strikeouts in Tuesday Battle Against Angels

Slade Cecconi has had a tough start to the 2026 campaign.

There's no simple way around that conversation.

But on Tuesday, May 12, in a contest against the Los Angeles Angels from Progressive Field, Cecconi put together one of his better starts of the season, tossing four scoreless innings of action. He finished with five hits and one walk given up, striking out seven batters along the way.

The Guardians went on to win, 3-2, with a mix of walks and hits propelling the offense.

"Yeah, I thought Slade did a great job with the three fastballs," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt began. "It looked like he was shaping his cutter a little bit better at times, too. But I thought he and Patty worked really well together, given it was their first time. They got his pitch count up and made him work. So we had to get him out of there after four.

"But to keep them off the scoreboard like that, it was an outstanding job by Slade."

His confidence ran high, but so did his pitch count. If he had been able to lessen the volume of pitches he was throwing, he could've made it through the fifth, maybe even the sixth inning. He was cutting down batters left and right, but prolonged at-bats routinely put him in difficult positions.

"I understand the decision [to take me out]," Cecconi said when reflecting. "As a competitor, it tore me up. But that's what it should feel like. I should want to go back out there on a day where I have my best stuff...I am just working to instill confidence in this staff that at that point in games, that I am going to go back out there and get the job done."

Heading into the contest on Tuesday, acting manager Tony Arnerich, who has been filling in for a sick Stephen Vogt, dove in depth on what has been working for Cecconi this season. He highlighted his mindset, something he doesn't let waver even through the ups and downs.

"Yeah, I mean, it's actually impressive because he is a cerebral guy, but he's not going to leave any stone unturned," Arnerich said about the 26-year-old righty. "He works hard. He works as hard as anybody. He journals, he studies, and so you're not worried about the work with him. It's just, can he get out there and utilize the stuff and attack and continue to stay on the attack?

"But with him, you're not worried. Does he care? Does he care? You know, is he working? Is he doing the right things? Like, he is going to work the right stuff, and that's why it's really exciting. I think he's going to continue to progress and be really good."

There's a lot of upside for Cecconi moving forward if he can cut down on his pitch count and stay composed. He has a really good fastball, something that has carried him most of his career.

This season, his four-seamer has 14 strikeouts across 62 at-bats, which is far and away the most of any pitch he's thrown. He has also kept the batting average against relatively low, with a clip of .290. His cutter is also really effective, which has eight strikeouts and a .238 batting average against.

The only pitches that have really hurt him this season are his off-speed curveball and sweeper, both of which have a high hit rate. His curveball has a batting average against of .318, while his sweeper has a batting average against of .417.

If his off-speed pitches become more reliable, all while balancing them with his four-seamer that has worked well, he will be able to be a much more dynamic arm on the mound.

And if he becomes more consistent and brings his ERA lower and lower, the Guardians are going to have a really scary rotation.

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