Tag: slade cecconi

Guardians’ Starting Pitching With Surprises

The strength of the Cleveland Guardians’ organization is developing pitchers and even in a up and down 2025 season, that has still been the case.

They are hovering around the .500 mark with an offense that ranks near the bottom of the American League in most statistical categories, but the pitching staff still has an above average ERA at 3.87, compared to the league average of 4.04.

However, how they have got there is a different story. We all know that one of the starters, Luis Ortiz, acquired from the Pirates over the winter has been out for about two months now under an MLB investigation.

If not for a case of food poisoning, Tanner Bibee would have been the Guardians’ Opening Day starter, but because he couldn’t go, Ben Lively took the mound. Unfortunately, Lively went down with an elbow injury that needed Tommy John surgery following his start on May 12th.

You can make the argument that Bibee has been the most disappointing pitcher on the team, non-suspension related. His hits/innings pitched has increased by a hit per game from a year ago, and his walk rate is also up while his strikeout rate is down, and his ERA is up over a run per game from last season.

He’s also giving up a ton more homers. Last year, for the entire season, he allowed 22 long balls. This year, he ranks 6th in the AL allowing 21 of them, and 13 of those have been with men on base.

We aren’t giving up on Bibee, but he needs to get back to throwing more strikes, getting ahead in the count more often and keeping the ball in the park.

Gavin Williams was the #2 starter, and by and large, he has been solid this year with a 3.33 ERA, a number which drops to 2.92 since May 1st. He’s only allowed 95 hits in 116.1 innings with 117 strikeouts.

His problem? Walks. He leads the AL in that negative category. Besides putting men on base, it limits how long he can stay in games. We have always thought Williams has the look of a #1 starter, and we still think that. If he can command the strike zone better, the Guardians have an anchor for their rotation.

And then we have Slade Cecconi. We made fun of Cecconi’s numbers in Arizona, where he compiled a 6.06 ERA, and because he was the return for Josh Naylor, who of course hit 30 HR and knocked in 100 for the Guards last year.

But to date, we were wrong. First, Cecconi is kind of a throwback in that he doesn’t strike out batters, but lately just keep inducing weak contact. That has allowed him to pitch at least six innings in his last five starts, allowing three runs or less in four of them.

He’s only fanned more than five in one of his last seven starts. We understand that irritates the new age fans who only value strikeouts, but if he keeps doing what he’s been doing over the last six weeks, he will be quite fine.

The great Bill James said a good pitcher allows less hits than innings pitched and strikes out twice as many hitters as he walks. Cecconi has done that. You know who else has? Logan Allen.

Allen seems to still have people irritated by his poor season a year ago (5.73 ERA), but that number is down to 4.06 this year and he has given Steven Vogt six innings per start since the beginning of June. He’s been solid and for a 4th starter, that’s not bad.

The starting pitching has still been good even though the guy who was supposed to be the anchor, Bibee, hasn’t pitched up to his standards. At the worst, these guys keep the Guardians in the game, which isn’t easy considering the offense output of the team.

A Pair Of Puzzling Moves For The Guardians

Hopefully, the Cleveland Guardians let us in on the grand plan pretty soon. All of their fans would like to think the organization wouldn’t take a step back after a trip to the American League Championship Series, but right now, there has to be some anxiousness.

That’s what has to be the thought after the Guardians traded Josh Naylor, who hit 31 home runs and knocked in 108 for Cleveland in 2024 to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-handed pitcher Slade Cecconi, who had a devilish 6.66 ERA last season.

The Guardians ranked just 7th in the AL in runs scored for the season, and in the second half of the season they were near the bottom, and yet they dealt one of their best offensive players.

There are extenuating circumstances to this deal.

First, Naylor would be a free agent after next season, and with Kyle Manzardo ready to play first base, the odds of signing Naylor long term were slim, especially because it’s the Guardians.

The return wasn’t much. Cecconi is 25 years old and has pitched 104 big league innings, sporting a 6.06 ERA, allowing 117 hits. We would guess unless he has a tremendous spring training, he will open the season in AAA.

Since the season ended, the organization shed a large contract and a potential free agent for a young pitcher who should be in the starting rotation, although he has only 30 big league starts.

Not really looking like an organization that is “going for it” in terms of taking the next step and getting to the World Series.

However, the Hot Stove season is not over and hopefully there is a big move coming soon.

It does appear the ownership wants to stay in the same area as last year in terms of payroll, despite an attendance boost and some nice post-season gates. We’ll probably soon hear from the local media defenders of the Dolan family and how tough they have it financially in a small market.

Making the trade even more confusing was the signing of veteran Carlos Santana, whom the Guards will be paying $12 million next year, albeit on a one year deal. In his third stint with Cleveland, he seems to be a platoon partner with Manzardo, having hammered right-handed pitching with Minnesota last season at a 934 OPS.

He had a .354 on base percentage vs. righties.

The switch-hitter has played 1334 games with the organization and ranks tied for 6th in homers with 216, and second in walks.

Right now, the Guardians aren’t as good as they were last season. We like Manzardo, but he’s still not a proven player, so Cleveland has question marks on the right side of the infield.

They are still short in the starting pitching depth as well. We have maintained we were okay with a deal for Naylor if it were a baseball trade for a proven starter, but that’s not what it was.

So, the front office is still on the clock. They need to improve this team, which won 92 games a year ago in a surprisingly tough division.

Fans will be understandably upset, but they aren’t the reason another move needs to be made. The front office traded one of their leaders, which won’t sit well in the clubhouse.

It also may not sit well with Jose Ramirez, who took a hometown discount to remain here.

Hopefully, Guardians’ fans won’t have to wait long for some much-needed good news.