Guardians’ Slade Cecconi takes step in right direction with good start against Royals

While Slade Cecconi wasn’t perfect for the Guardians on Thursday. Luckily for him, they didn’t need him to be. 

After allowing a combined 15 runs across his previous three starts, Cecconi gave the Guardians just enough to hold off the Royals’ offense in Cleveland’s 8-5 win to secure a winning road trip for Cleveland. 

In total, Cecconi allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings with six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. Not the most exciting showing in the world, but it’s a welcome change compared to how things had been going for him recently. 

Although he still allowed a bit too many baserunners, he did a good job working around that traffic while also avoiding the big inning that’s plagued him throughout the year. 

He ran into trouble right out of the gate thanks to a leadoff double from Maikel Garcia followed by a walk to Bobby Witt Jr., but he was able to wiggle out of it thanks to a Jac Caglianone groundout with the bases loaded. 

Slade Cecconi looked more like himself in start against the Royals

Cecconi was able to settle in after that and allowed just two baserunners for the next three innings while racking up all three of his strikeouts. It was the most locked in he’s looked since he tossed six scoreless innings against the Cubs in the beginning of April. 

While he’s not a huge strikeout pitcher, he’s able to get oodles and oodles of soft contact when he’s on, and Thursday was no exception. 

He surrendered his first run of the game in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Garcia, and was pulled with one out in the sixth after allowing a single to Carter Jensen. 

Although Cecconi was tagged with another run when Jensen came around to score against Tim Herrin (thanks in part to a defensive misplay from Petey Halpin and Chase DeLauter), he still ended the day with a solid performance. 

No one is expecting Cecconi to be at the same level as Gavin Williams or Parker Messick, but his rough start has stood out thanks to some strong starts from his rotation mates. 

Even if it’s not at a point where Cecconi is pitching for his job, the middle of May is quickly approaching. We’re long past a point where early season rust can be an excuse. 

He was also able to get run support from two unlikely contributors in Kyle Manzardo and Bo Naylor. Manzardo started things off with a two-run double that gave Cecconi the lead before he ever stepped on the mound. 

Naylor added on at the end with a three-run home run that seemed padded onto the Guardians’ lead. That homer ended up being huge, as the Royals tacked on three runs late off the Guardians’ beleaguered bullpen. 

But none of that takes away from the fact Cecconi put together the kind of start that Guardians fans have been begging for. The sky could be the limit for the Guardians if he’s able to keep that up.

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