The Indians have placed right-hander Triston McKenzie on the 10-day injured list due to shoulder fatigue and recalled left-hander Logan Allen from Triple-A Columbus, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com.
Cleveland’s chances at a postseason run are more or less nonexistent at this point, but it’s still a troubling development for one of the organization’s most promising young arms. The 24-year-old McKenzie was rocked during his first run with the big league club in 2021, but upon returning from the minors in early July, he looked like a different pitcher entirely.
Over his past eight starts, the former No. 42 overall draft pick has tallied 49 innings with a 3.49 ERA, a 25.8 percent strikeout rate and a 4.3 percent walk rate. His four most recent outings have been particularly dominant, as he’s held opponents to just six runs on a dozen hits and two walks with 28 strikeouts in 28 innings (1.93 ERA). Overall, McKenzie has pitched in 27 big league games dating back to 2020 and put together a 4.40 ERA through his first 124 2/3 innings. He’s clearly trending upward right now, so any mention of shoulder problems is worrisome.
The team hasn’t provided a timeline for McKenzie’s absence, but given the lack of 2021 postseason aspirations, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Indians take a cautious approach to the situation. McKenzie, at this point, looks like a favorite to be penciled into next year’s rotation alongside Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Cal Quantrill.
For now, he’ll be replaced by the 24-year-old Allen, who is hoping to finish what has been a nightmarish season both in the Majors and in Triple-A on a high note. Allen has allowed 23 earned runs in 22 2/3 Major League innings so far in 2021, and he’s been tagged for 43 runs in 48 2/3 frames of Triple-A ball. He’s long been considered a fairly promising arm, however, and his past several games in Columbus have been trending in the right direction. Through his past five starts (28 2/3 innings), he’s worked to a 4.08 ERA with 35 punchouts against 13 walks.
Innings load managing…nothing more!
I hope so
This dude is really throwing that ball in his picture
He had a great start against the Angels a few days ago. I remember thinking that the guy is extremely skinny and wondering about his stamina. I wish him a speedy recovery and maybe he should eat a sandwich while he is on the IL.
I was wondering myself how those skinny pipes muster up such a great arm. I thought his shoulder must take on a lot of his mechanics. Needs to take a sale workout class. Sale has been blasting his new guns hard on post game interviews
Randy Johnson
He’s noted on Twitter that he employs a nutritionist, he really does try to get bigger. He’s heard the whole “eat a sandwich” thing a bunch of times.
McKenzie was dominant on Saturday vs the Angels – 3 base runners thru 7 innings and 95 pitches.
If Pujols had still been a halo, it would have been 2 base runners through 8 innings
Are you saying the speedy Albert Pujols would hit into a double play??
The DH got on base
Was he put on DL for malnutrition dude looks like he’s 90 pounds
Right!?
Hey, we all know the Indians are incredibly cheap. But can’t they afford to buy this guy some lunch?
He was demanding food, so they banished him to the IL.
Ooh, Logan Allen. That’ll inspire me to watch them. Ugh.
Uh oh…
Tristan needs to visit the shake shack 3 or more times a day..
“Sticks” was shut down out of precaution, nothing seriously wrong with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw his last pitch this season.