Slade Cecconi

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Slade Devin Cecconi

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Slade Cecconi was drafted with the 33rd overall pick of the 2020 amateur draft, by the Arizona Diamondbacks in Competitive Balance Round A. He was coming out of the University of Miami, where he had gone 5-4 in 2019 and 2-1 in 4 starts in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season prematurely, both years with an ERA around 4.00. He had previously been drafted in the 38th round of the 2018 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles coming out of high school.

When the minor leagues resumed play in 2021, he was assigned to the Hillsboro Hops of the High-A West, going 4-2, 4.12 in 12 starts. Like many first-year starting pitchers that season, his workload was deliberately limited, as he pitched only 59 innings. He also appeared in the Arizona Fall League after the season. In 2022, he got to pitch a full season in the AA Texas League, going 7-6, 4.37 in 26 games (25 starts) with the Amarillo Sod Poodles. He logged 129 2/3 innings with a very good K/W ratio of 127/32.

He started the 2023 season with the AAA Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League, going 4-8, 6.38 in 20 starts. In spite of those underwhelming stats, he was called up to make his big league debut on August 2nd and made the news for the very unusual nature of his first career strikeout. Starting against the San Francisco Giants that day, he had a full count on leadoff hitter LaMonte Wade when his next pitch hit the knob of Wade's bat and deflected straight into catcher José Herrera's crotch, where it became stuck. Home plate umpire Gabe Morales originally called a hit by pitch but the D-Backs challenged the call, and Wade was ruled to have struck out on a caught foul tip. Slade ended up pitching 4 2/3 innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits and had a no-decision as the Giants won the game, 4-2. He went 0-1, 4.33 in 7 games for the D-Backs, including 4 starts, logging 27 innings. He was on the team's postseason roster and was used twice, both times in relieve in the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up 2 hits but no runs in two innings.

In 2024, he made 13 starts in 20 appearances for Arizona, but with unimpressive results as he finished at 2-7, 6.66. He gave up 92 hits in 77 innings, although his K/W ratio of 64/17 was pretty good. One team that seemed to like what they saw was the Cleveland Guardians, who acquired him in a trade with the D-Backs on December 21st. Along with a Competitive Balance Round B pick in the 2025 amateur draft, he constituted the return for All-Star 1B Josh Naylor.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Steve Gilbert: "After review, D-backs pitcher gets odd 1st MLB K: Cecconi's debut highlighted by HBP turned uncomfortable foul tip", mlb.com, August 3, 2023. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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