Slade Cecconi Looking Forward to an Exciting Year in 2024

The Diamondbacks pitching prospect talks about pitching in the postseason, his slider, and working with Brent Strom.

Oct 21, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Slade Cecconi (43) throws in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Slade Cecconi has been one of the Diamondbacks' top pitching prospects since they selected him with the 33rd overall selection of the 2020 MLB Draft. He steadily worked himself up the ladder, eventually reaching the major leagues last year. He debuted on August 2nd and pitched in seven games, four of them starts, for the D-backs last year.

Once he reached the major leagues, he got the opportunity to work with D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom. Cecconi talks about his relationship with the legendary pitching coach.

"Strom's a lot of fun to work with. He's extremely knowledgeable and he also is able to explain things in a way that I'm able to understand. It's not just black and white, there's some gray area with him. Whether it's some things here and there, we try to tweak and tinker with and see if it makes a difference. Working with him is a lot of fun, I've definitely developed under him last year."

Cecconi may be better remembered for having the most unique first career strikeout in MLB history. Facing his very first hitter, he threw a full-count pitch that hit off the knob of LaMonte Wade Jr.'s bat that careened right into catcher Jose Herrera's lap. The play was initially ruled a hit-by-pitch but a D-backs challenge overturned it to a foul tip when replay determined Herrera successfully secured the ball. It will be a great story he'll get to tell for the rest of his life.

"That first inning, I couldn't feel my hands or feet. I didn't know where the ball was going, there was so much adrenaline pumping. Those first two hitters were very unlike me. I was very fortunate to hit the knob of his bat and get the strikeout."

Cecconi got an opportunity to pitch in the postseason in the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched a scoreless inning in relief in Games 2 and 5. Here's how he describes pitching in that type of environment.

"It's unlike anything I've ever done before. It was incredible. The atmosphere, the competitiveness on that side of baseball was something I wish to experience again."

One of his main offseason goals was to increase the velocity of his slider. The D-backs showed him a chart that showed very significant differences in how the pitch is hit when its velocity is above and below 84 MPH. A Statcast search from last season, for both Triple-A and MLB, confirms this.

Talked to Slade Cecconi to figure out the basis for his slider velocity being up this year (83 -> 85). The #Dbacks had shown him charts about the way his slider gets hit above and below 84 MPH. Here are my findings on that. pic.twitter.com/7aCq7ScIJf

— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) April 6, 2024

In two starts with Reno this year, Cecconi's average slider velocity has jumped up to 85.1 MPH. He's throwing the ball with the mindset of full intent and full velocity each time. The goal is for the pitch to be 84-85 and be firm, sharp, and late-moving.

Another pitch he's working on is the changeup. He's picked it up from Merrill Kelly, who had one of the best changeups in the major leagues last season. So far this season, he's thrown changeups on 13.6% of his pitches. That's slightly more than double the 6.7% usage rate from last season. The movement profile has been better in two starts this season, as the pitch has gotten an extra inch and a half of fading action arm-side and an extra inch of drop. For much of his career, he's never found a third consistent pitch but the development of his changeup could be key for him to start long term.

Cecconi began the 2024 season in a competition for the 5th starter role, eventually losing out to Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry. The right-hander awaits another opportunity to pitch in the rotation. The D-backs optioned him to Triple-A Reno on March 18th, with the goal being to better maintain his velocity deep into his starts and continue to work on his slider and changeup. Reno can be a tough environment to pitch in, with the high elevation, swirling winds, and dry air in an outdoor stadium adding up to stack the deck against the pitcher. For Cecconi, it's more about the process than the results he's learned to focus on.

"The biggest thing I've learned is not judge the quality of my outings by looking at earned runs. There are situations where you execute your pitch and it's inside-outted off the hands for a home run to right field into the jetstream. I've been really more focused on developing the things that the D-backs have given me points on with the slider, with the changeup, with maintaining my velocity through the outings. Focusing on those things that are going to make me better in the long run and not bogging myself down over a mishit homer or something along those lines that could discourage me like it did a little bit last year."

Cecconi could be called upon to start for the D-backs in 2024, depending on what happens with the rotation during the season. You can check out the full interview by clicking on this link!