Slade Cecconi Had a Successful MLB Debut Season in 2023

The D-backs No. 4 prospect was not intimidated in his first taste of the big leagues last season.

This article is part of a series counting down the Diamondbacks' Top 30 prospects entering the 2024 season. These rankings are determined by Michael McDermott, in conjunction with the Inside the Diamondbacks staff.

Summary: The D-backs drafted Slade Cecconi with the 33rd overall selection of the shortened 2020 MLB Draft and signed him to an above-slot bonus of $2.384 million. The big right-hander has a solid fastball and slider mix, but the lack of a refined third pitch threatens to handicap his ceiling as a major league pitcher. After an injury-plagued 2021, Cecconi has been healthy and continuing to improve for the past two years and made his MLB debut in August. Now he awaits his turn to get another opportunity, as he's far down the pecking order for the rotation.

Rank: 4

Age: 24

Height/Weight: 6'4" 219 lbs.

Throws: Right

Tools: Fastball 55, Curveball 45, Slider 60, Changeup 40, Command 45, Overall 45

ETA: 2024

What the D-backs are saying about him?

“It's going to be talked about for a long time. You can't dream up how you get your first career strikeout. Look, one day he’ll be able to tell a great story about my first one and nobody will believe it. You’ll have to go to the tape for proof of that. We had a good laugh about it, though, in the dugout, but what he did was he settled in after that, made pitches and did a really good job.” - Manager Torey Lovullo on Slade Cecconi's first MLB strikeout (see tweet below)

2023 PitchingNinja Award for Most Unique 1st Career Strikeout. 🏆

Winner: Slade Cecconi pic.twitter.com/TxKy8Vbzvf

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 23, 2023

2023 Recap: After a successful season with Double-A Amarillo, the D-backs promoted Cecconi to Triple-A Reno to begin the season. Even though he had a 6.11 ERA with Reno, his 9.1 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings was strong enough to earn a promotion and his first major league cup of coffee. In his first seven appearances, including four starts, Cecconi pitched to a 4.33 ERA and a solid 20/4 strikeout to walk ratio in 27 innings. More importantly, the big leagues were not too intimidating for the 24-year-old right-hander. His signature moment came on August 27th, when he held the Cincinnati Reds to just one run in 5 1/3 innings in a game the D-backs won 5-2 to put distance over their Wild Card rivals. For his strong finish to the season, Cecconi was placed on the National League Championship Roster although only pitched a pair of innings in mop-up duty.

2024 Expectations: Cecconi will likely open the 2024 season with Reno again, waiting for an opportunity in the D-backs rotation. General manager Mike Hazen named Tommy Henry and Ryne Nelson as the top two competitors for the final rotation spot entering spring, but those opportunities will come at some point during the season. The key is for Cecconi to improve his fastball command and his changeup in order to reach his ceiling as a middle of the rotation starter. The hope is Cecconi can amass somewhere in the 150-160 inning range, the new standard for an "innings eater". 

Projection: Despite the solid fastball and slider combination, the current version of Cecconi is not suitable to handle a lineup more than two times through. In order to stick as a starter, development of the changeup and/or curveball will be key. The good news for Cecconi is he has the ideal build and has exhibited the ability to handle a starting pitcher's workload with 127 and 145 innings over the past two seasons. If he's unable to develop a third quality pitch, then he fits as a Swiss Army knife in the bullpen who could get anywhere from three to 12 outs in a given outing.

Top 30 Diamondbacks Prospects Entering the 2024 Season