Slade

Cecconi

Cecconi served up a two-run homer to Shea Langeliers in the first inning. Three base hits would bring another run in to score in the fourth. Langeliers would get to Cecconi again with a solo blast in the fifth. A single, a double, and a sacrifice fly made it five runs against Cecconi before he was relieved with one out in the sixth at 69 pitches. He struck out three, picking up his first win with 14 runs of support. The 26-year-old right-hander will take a 6.56 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and a 28/13 K/BB ratio across 35 2/3 innings into a start against the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday.

Cecconi struck out five and walked one. The decisive blow was a two-run homer off the bat of cleanup hitter Jesús Sánchez in the sixth. Cecconi has struggled with both throwing strikes and missing bats this season. He has a tough assignment in Sacramento against the A’s next time out.

Cecconi surrendered 10 hits, including homers to Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes in the first and fourth innings. He struck out two and also handed out a pair of free passes. He’s allowed four earned runs or more in three of his five starts to open the year. He’ll aim for better results when he faces the Blue Jays in a road tilt on Sunday.

It was not an efficient outing for Cecconi, who threw just 55 percent of his first pitches for strikes and 60 percent strikes overall. He did post a 26 percent whiff rate, but almost all of that was on his four-seam fastball. He got few chases on his cutter and didn’t throw his sweeper and curve much at all. It’s probably best to avoid him next week against the Astros.

Cecconi retired the first six batters he faced but allowed back-to-back singles to kick off the third inning. After getting Mauricio Dubón to fly out, Cecconi would see both runners move into scoring position on a passed ball, which set the table for Ronald Acuńa to drive in the Braves’ first run of the day on an RBI single. Drake Baldwin would ground into a double play to end the inning, but the Braves would pile on the hits on Cecconi in the sixth. Cecconi allowed a solo homer to Acúna to begin the inning, and a two-run homer to Matt Olson two batters later to give the Braves a 4-2 lead. Cecconi’s night would end on a groundout by Mike Yastrzemski, as the righty struggled to get through the Braves lineup for a third time. Cecconi has now allowed nine earned runs in 15 2/3 innings this season, and has also allowed 19 baserunners over that span. He’ll carry a 5.17 ERA into his next start, which is slated for Wednesday on the road against the Cardinals.

The 26-year-old right-hander racked up six strikeouts on the afternoon while issuing only one free pass. The lone hit that he allowed came on a leadoff single by Michael Conforto to start the second inning. Cecconi got 14 swings and misses on 85 pitches on the day — eight of them on his fastball which averaged 93.5 mph (+1.2 mph) — while posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll carry a 5.02 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and an 11/4 K/BB ratio (10 1/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Braves in Atlanta on Friday.

The game will be made up Sunday with a traditional doubleheader. Shota Imanaga and Slade Cecconi were scheduled to start Saturday’s affair, and they’ll likely get the nod in one of the two games in Sunday’s twin-billing.

Cecconi worked out a jam in the first and kept the Mariners scoreless until the fourth, when he gave up a three-run homer to Brendan Donovan as part of a four-run inning. He probably should have been done at that point, but with the Guardians playing seven times in seven days to start the year, he was brought back out to give up two runs in the fifth. Cecconi had a really nice spring, posting a 1.62 ERA in five starts, and it’ll take more than a couple of poor outings to get him bumped from the rotation. Still, it’s quite possible he’d prove more useful in relief. He’ll face the Cubs on Saturday.

Cecconi, who had a 33% CSW in his 57-pitch outing tonight, closes out the spring with a 1.62 ERA and a 16/5 K/BB in 16 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Mariners in Seattle on Sunday.

With a 2.13 ERA in four starts, Cecconi, who was already the favorite to serve as the Guardians’ third starter, should have his rotation spot pretty much locked up at this point. He wasn’t above average in generating either strikeouts or grounders last year, and there’s little in the numbers to recommend him for fantasy purposes. Still, Cleveland pitchers have quite the history of outperforming projections.