Triston McKenzie has had a rough start to the season, allowing 11 runs over his first 13 innings. The lanky righty has issued 12 walks with just five strikeouts. His swinging strike rate has plummeted to 5.6% while his velocity has backed up. McKenzie’s average fastball has sat at 90.9 MPH, down from its standard 92-93 range.
McKenzie entered the season hoping for a rebound after his 2023 campaign was mostly lost to injury. He began last year on the shelf with a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. He returned in June, made two starts, and then was shut back down after spraining the UCL in his throwing elbow. That initially led to concern that he might go under the knife, but he opted for non-surgical rehab. McKenzie made it back for a pair of appearances in the final week of the season.
While he was able to get back to the mound, McKenzie clearly hasn’t been operating at peak form. The 26-year-old candidly admitted to Zack Meisel and Jason Lloyd of the Athletic that he’s still unsure whether his decision not to undergo surgery was the correct one. McKenzie told The Athletic that he’s not pitching through pain but conceded the possibility of a serious injury is “always in the back of (his) head.” While he said that hasn’t changed his approach or effort level on the mound, he clearly hasn’t found his best stuff.
Meisel’s and Lloyd’s piece is worth a full perusal, as they also speak with former Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw and Guards starter Shane Bieber about the health and contractual considerations a player weighs when deciding whether to undergo surgery. Bieber, of course, opted for non-surgical rehab for elbow inflammation last season. After two excellent starts this year, he required Tommy John surgery — a brutal development six months before his first trip to free agency. McKenzie has three seasons of remaining arbitration control and won’t get to the open market until the 2026-27 offseason.
Bieber’s absence makes it all the more significant that McKenzie is able to get back on track in short order. The Guardians have also been without Gavin Williams thus far after the second-year righty experienced elbow discomfort of his own this spring. McKenzie has been joined Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Carlos Carrasco in the rotation. Of that quartet, only Carrasco has an ERA below 4.82 so far.
The Guardians have nevertheless gotten out to a great start behind an excellent bullpen and a surprisingly potent offense. They enter today’s series finale against the Red Sox with a 12-6 record. Still, the rotation will feel tenuous — at least until Williams’ return — if McKenzie’s struggles continue.
In the short term, it seems journeyman righty Ben Lively will hold down the #5 spot. He somewhat surprisingly landed a major league contract from Cleveland after being waived by the Reds last winter. Lively started the season on the IL after being delayed by an illness, but he was activated for his team debut last night. The 32-year-old worked five innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in a loss to Boston.
Lively is out of options, so the Guardians need to keep him on the big league club or put him on waivers. That perhaps gave him the edge over Xzavion Curry, who was optioned back to Triple-A Columbus as the corresponding move for Lively’s reinstatement. Curry had returned from his own virus-related IL stint to make his season debut on Monday. He worked five scoreless frames with a trio of strikeouts and could be the top depth option if anyone from the current rotation suffers an injury.
In other Guardians news, the team placed infield prospect Angel Martínez on the 60-day injured list yesterday. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, Martínez is undergoing surgery to repair a hamate fracture in his wrist. The 22-year-old has yet to make his MLB debut. He split last season between the top two levels of the minors, hitting .251/.321/.392 with 14 homers.