Why Slade Cecconi Struggled to Find his Form

Slade Cecconi hasn't been able to find his mojo this season. Where does he go from here?

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Slade Cecconi (43) delivers a pitch on July 10, 2024 at Chase Field in Phoenix. / Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Arizona Diamondbacks' pitching has struggled lately, but perhaps no one has had it tougher all-season long than right-hander Slade Cecconi, who was just optioned Thursday to AAA-Reno for the fourth time this season. RHP Yilber Diaz, called up today from Reno, will take his place in the bullpen.

Slade Cecconi started the '24 season in AAA-Reno to continue his projection as a starter. Cecconi made four starts with the Aces before getting called up April 21 when Merrill Kelly was put on the injured list with a shoulder strain.

After delivering consecutive six-inning quality starts versus the Giants then Mariners to kick off his '24 MLB campaign, Cecconi looked liked he belonged in the rotation, and his case was solidified when the seriousness of Merrill Kelly's injury was revealed. (Kelly missed nearly four months.)

Cecconi could not sustain his production over his next and last 12 starts in the rotation (technically it was 11, but he came into pitch a five-inning relief appearance on May 20th after southpaw Joe Mantiply served as an opener).

Only two of those starts resulted in a quality start for Cecconi. Overall, few starters struggled as much as the former first-round pick's rocky stretch from May 3rd to July 10th. Cecconi's 6.61 ERA ranked second-worst and his .305 opponent batting average ranked sixth worst among the 124 starters with at least 40 innings pitched in that span.

Homers contributed to his high run totals, as he gave up eight long balls in 49 innings of work for a high 1.47 HR/9 rate. Cecconi also struggled to miss bats, posting a well below-average 18% K rate and 18.8% whiff rate in that two-month span.

Cecconi's results, however, might've been worse than his actual performance, as his 4.52 FIP was considerably lower than his ERA (second-largest positive difference), which suggests he was giving up more runs than expected, but a FIP that high is still subpar.

After a four-inning start versus the Braves on July 10th when he allowed three earned runs, the Diamondbacks closed the books on Cecconi starting, at least for this season. He was then optioned to AAA, where he switched to a reliever role.

After struggling to generate strikeouts as a starter, Cecconi found his groove in the bullpen for Reno. In a small sample, Cecconi struck out seven of the nineteen batters (37% K rate) he faced in his first stint as a reliever in AAA.

Cecconi's success might've been attributed to a change in his pitch mix. He used his secondaries a whole lot more in that three-game stretch, throwing his curve or slider 53% of the time compared to just 30% of the time in the bigs before then.

He also stopped throwing his changeup entirely. Cecconi continued his hot start as a reliever in his first MLB appearance since moving to the bullpen. Cecconi pitched the seventh and eighth inning on July 29th while allowing just one baserunner and striking out three.

Unfortunately, Cecconi reverted to his old, faltering self across his next two relief outings, allowing multiple runs and a home run in both outings before getting sent to AAA-Reno once again early August.

Cecconi maintained his same secondary-heavy approach to his pitch mix in AAA in his seven relief appearances to finish out the month of the August, throwing an even balance of 50% fastballs and 50% secondaries without any changeups, and the results were his best yet as a reliever.

Across 9.2 innings pitched in that stretch, hitters batted to a .505 OPS, and he was finally able to start striking out batters, as he struck out 28.5% of the batters he faced along with an improved 26.5% whiff rate. Cecconi got his third chance in the majors earlier this month, but he could not find his footing yet again in three relief appearances, allowing at least a run in each game before heading back to Reno Thursday.

While some parts of Cecconi's game have evolved to his benefit this season like his pitch usage, some parts, like his location, has not. Cecconi has a strong tendency to live in the zone. Using Baseball Savant's search tool, he's thrown pitches in the zone 56.1% of the time, which ranks in the top ten of 216 qualified (min. 1,000 total pitches thrown) pitchers in the bigs this season.

The strike-throwing ability has helped minimize his walk percentage to below-average rates, but there's some disadvantages. Cecconi has proven that he can throw strikes, but a lot of those pitches are in the heart (center) of the zone, which is the most hitter-friendly region.

Cecconi threw pitches in the heart of the zone 30.3% of the time, which ranked 15th - in the top ten percent - among those same 200-plus pitchers, and hitters took notice. More than half - 56.5% - of the pitches that hitters made contact on pitches thrown in the heart of the zone. That was the seventh-highest rate of 139 pitchers with at least 250 batted-ball events hit versus them this season.

Even in his most-recent promising stretch in AAA-Reno last month, Cecconi was still throwing pitches in the center of the zone 30% of the time. It didn't hurt him then, but in the long run, it will, as shown earlier in the bigs this season. Ultimately inability to command the baseball within the zone and execute pitches to the right location was his undoing.

Slade Cecconi has already made some changes to his game, but it will take some more to get him back on track. With just a few weeks left in a tight playoff race, Cecconi might have to continue adjusting his game at the AAA level for the rest of the season.