With a 5.11 ERA in 75.2 innings during the 2024 regular season, Cleveland Guardians starter Triston McKenzie just didn’t do enough to earn a place on the postseason roster.
He was demoted to Triple-A and also ran an ERA over 5.00 there (5.23 to be exact), struggling with control and command.
As you would expect, he wasn’t included on the roster for the Division Series against the Detroit Tigers or the one for the Championship Series against the New York Yankees.
He told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he wasn’t happy about that, but it was all a learning experience.
“I wasn’t really happy about being in the stands. But everybody was supportive. They all were like, ‘We want you out there!’, he said.
McKenzie suffered a UCL sprain in 2023 and was recommended Tommy John surgery.
He opted against it and took the rest and rehab route.
Performance-wise, things have gone south in a hurry for a man who posted a 2.96 ERA in 191.1 frames in 2022.
He was one of the top young starters in MLB back then.
His decision not to have surgery to repair his partially torn UCL might come back to haunt him when everything is said and done, but you can’t say he hasn’t been trying to return to top form.
He spent the winter training at the Cressey Sports Performance Center in Florida and his fastball is touching 95 mph.
His manager Stephen Vogt maintains faith in him.
“He finally had a healthy offseason for the first time in a while,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “He definitely got after it. His reflections on last year are just incredibly mature. Just to see where he is today versus a year ago, his body’s moving better, he feels 100 percent healthy, and we’re excited to see what Triston can do.”
McKenzie explained that while it was certainly disappointing not to be there with his teammates during last year’s postseason run, he found a purpose while working on his game in the minors.
He realized he was down there for a reason.
“What kind of kept me focused throughout everything was reminding myself that the work we’re putting in down there isn’t useless,” McKenzie said. “[Returning to the Majors] wasn’t something I needed to worry about. It was more, ‘How can we be better for tomorrow, next week, next month and next year?’”
The hope is that he got better and can go back to executing the things that made him great not so long ago.
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