Who is Slade Cecconi? Diamondbacks' young pitching prospect makes MLB Debut

Slade Cecconi, a right-handed pitching prospect, was chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks from Triple-A Reno to start against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

According to FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline, Cecconi is the D-backs' No. 7 and No. 9 prospect, respectively.

On June 24, 1999, Slade Cecconi was born in Oviedo, Florida. Cecconi played baseball for Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida. He agreed to a $2.384 million bonus when he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 10, 2020.

Due to the pandemic's postponement of the minor league season, he did not participate in a minor league game in 2020. He was later assigned to the West League's Hillsboro Hops to start the 2021 campaign.

Slade Cecconi's baseball career

The 24-year-old was selected with the No. 33 pick in the competitive balance round of the 2020 MLB Draft. After pitching in the Arizona Fall League, he advanced to Double-A Amarillo in 2022, and this past spring Slade was invited to major league camp as a non-roster player.

For the 2022 season, he was sent to the Double-A Texas League's Amarillo Sod Poodles. Cecconi had a 7-6 record, a 4.37 ERA, 127 strikeouts over 129+3-3 innings, and 25 starts. Cecconi was assigned to the Triple-A Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League to begin the 2023 campaign.

He has spent the entire season with Reno, where after 103 innings, he has a 6.38 ERA. He is walking 2.53 times and striking out 9.09 opponents per nine innings.

His ERA has been slowly dropping every month; in five starts in July, he had a 4.60 ERA with 22 strikeouts and three walks over 29.1 innings. Last time out, Cecconi pitched seven innings of two-run ball while striking out five batters.

With 2.01 home runs per nine innings this season in hitter-friendly Reno, he has had trouble with the long ball, which has significantly raised his ERA.

About the author

Aanchal Jaura is a journalist who covers Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. Her journey in baseball writing has been a continuous learning experience, where she delves into the intricacies of players, teams, and the game itself. A few of her favorites include Shohei Ohtani and A-Rod, whose passion and dedication to the game inspire her. Aanchal stays up-to-date with the latest news and trends and shares them with readers.

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