Slade Cecconi has had an up and down season thus far, with an ERA of 3.44 in the first half versus 5.18 in the second half. However, Slade has posted a quality start in three of his last 5 starts (coming up one out short in his most recent outing). Riding on the wave of an unbelievable stretch for the Guardians pitching staff, Slade Cecconi will need to keep up his return to form this afternoon. Facing off against Joe Ryan is going to be a challenge, so here are the keys to success for Slade Cecconi today
in order to keep the magic rolling for the Guardians.
As we know from countless matchups, the Twins are a team that can crush fastballs. That isn’t a particularly good matchup for Slade Cecconi. Cecconi’s fastball is in the zone about 64% of the time and suffers a .472 xwOBACON. Slade will need his best command tonight to keep the ball on the edges and away from barrels.
The second biggest key is utilizing his curveball properly. With a 20mph difference and nearly 30 inch difference in shape, Cecconi’s curve plays beautifully off his fastball. When Cecconi is keeping his fastball down in the zone he generates a solid amount of whiffs and a very low xwOBACON (0.297). Pictured below is his curveball location heatmap.
