The Guardians have been good at starting pitching in 2026. They should do something to get even better.
In today’s start against the Reds, Slade Cecconi fell apart in the fourth inning, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following Cecconi’s travails as a starter for the Guardians. Since he arrived in Cleveland, Cecconi has a 2.62 ERA first-time-through-the-order and a 3.28 FIP. He has a 3.96 ERA/4.52 FIP second-time-through and an 8.39 ERA/7.26 FIP third-time through. These numbers
don’t include today’s game against the Reds, which would further inflate these stats. It’s not unusual to see a back-end-of-the-rotation guy struggle second and third time through orders, and Cecconi has improved his numbers from 2025 to 2026 slightly in turn number two (third time is still awful). But, I think it’s time for the Guardians to recalibrate and move Cecconi to the bullpen.
There should be a fair few starting pitchers available at this deadline, somewhat of an unusual occurrence. From the Angels’ Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano, to the Royals’ Seth Lugo or Michael Wacha, the Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez or Merrill Kelly, the Mets’ Freddy Peralta or Clay Holmes, the Reds’ Brady Singer, the Giants’ Tyler Mahle or Robbie Ray, the Orioles’ Trevor Rogers, or the Mariners’ Emerson Hancock, the options who should be potentially available are plentiful. Unlike the pursuit of a proven hitter (especially a right-handed one) for the lineup, the saturated market for pitchers can provide the Guardians a reasonable bargain option. Unlike the pursuit of a reliever – everyone wants two and paying for their volatile value is always a huge risk – going after a starter looks to be a realistic quest this deadline.
As usual, I’d like the Guardians to take a big swing and go for Reid Detmers or Jose Soriano. If the Angels are serious about a rebuild for once in their lives, I’d gladly give up a top five prospect to see what the Guardians’ pitch coaching can do with the meat left on the bone in both of those cases by an Angels’ pitching group notorious for not getting the most out of their arms. Detmers has a 4.05 ERA and a 3.28 FIP with a 10.2/3.3 K/BB/9 and Soriano has a 3.29 ERA and a 3.80 FIP with a 9.3/4.2 K/BB/9, with both players under arbitration team control through 2028. I have long been salivating to see either one of them in a Guardians’ uniform, convinced the team could maximize their talent. But, even if Cleveland finds those prices prohibitive, getting a rental option like Clay Holmes or Robbie Ray would make a huge difference in enabling them to add a real weapon to their pen in Cecconi while offering much improved production in his current rotation spot.
Cleveland does one thing especially well and it’s get the most out of pitchers. I think it makes sense given the current situation with Cecconi to leverage their greatest skill to provide Carl Willis the opportunity to make the most out of this trade deadline in terms of improving the major league team. Use the depth of your farm system in hitters to improve the unit that will obviously have to carry you in any playoff run. Make it so!
