The Guardians Cannot Count On Triston McKenzie

Although a lot more goes into this, I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. The graphic above shows all of McKenzie’s pitches from 2024 and where they were located. His curveball inflates the bottom right corner, but look in the zone. A significant amount of pitches landed right in the middle of the strike zone, and batters slugged .660 off those pitches.

Playing through injury will often disrupt one’s mechanics and rhythm, making their motion more difficult to repeat or even affecting it in such a way that they are not utilizing their upper or lower half properly. Obviously, this led to poor results for McKenzie, which likely bled over into confidence issues as well.

2025 Spring Training & the Outlook for Triston McKenzie

McKenzie was a pitcher I was very intrigued by coming into spring training. After a disappointing season and a full offseason to reset, get healthy, and find his delivery again, I was hopeful that the old McKenzie would be back. Not the case.

McKenzie came into spring with the same command issues. In his second outing, which lasted two outs, he allowed three hits and five walks. In three of his other outings, he did not walk a batter, but the command still resulted in too much contact.

Throwing his curveball for a strike, or at least close enough to appear as a strike, has been a struggle. If batters do not have to worry about the curveball as much, they can sit fastball, which has caught too much of the plate. His velocity has ticked up a bit, which is encouraging.

Essentially, McKenzie is nowhere near reliable enough to be in the Guardians’ rotation. Not even as a back-end starter. As of now, there’s too high of a probability that he cannot get out of the first inning if he doesn’t have his best stuff. Part of being a pitcher is learning how to navigate and get through five, even on days when you don’t have it. McKenzie is far from being able to do that.

The Guardians have made this clear by confirming that McKenzie will start the 2025 season in the bullpen. This does not mean he’ll never return to the rotation, but he’ll have to earn his spot back. Or, and maybe a more likely outcome, McKenzie shifts his focus toward being the best possible pitcher he can be for one inning and puts his starting days behind him.

Not only does moving him to the bullpen allow for a focus on his fastball/slider as a primary pairing, with the curveball playing less of a role, but it could help keep him healthy.

Logan Allen, who earned the fifth spot in Cleveland’s rotation, impressed this spring. Considering McKenzie did not have an option, the move to the bullpen shows the Guardians still believe in him. While the same issues can happen out of the bullpen or the rotation, I like the idea of one-inning spurts more than asking McKenzie to face batters multiple times through an order. At least until he finds himself again.

A bullpen demotion is not the end of the world. We have seen several players, especially recently, re-enter the rotation after a year or more out of the bullpen. Sometimes, narrowing their focus to shorter outings and not having to expand their repertoire is exactly what a pitcher needs.

Final Thoughts

No, I do not think Triston McKenzie had his talent sucked out like a Monstar in Space Jam. This is a fierce competitor who hated the idea of missing a season and elected to play through injury.

Was that the right decision? Who am I to say. But, the results are what they are, and now the situation is sticky.

Luckily for McKenzie, the Guardians are an organization that has proven to know pitching inside and out. They tend to get the most out of players and pull the right levers to get them back on track.

Opportunities are running out in Cleveland. With no options left, I wonder how long the leash is for McKenzie. At some point I have to wonder if an IL move, and possible second opinion, is next to happen. Regardless, McKenzie is a hard worker and, by all indications, a great person. I’m pulling for him no matter where he pitches.