Triston McKenzie has passed through waivers unclaimed. He has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to pass along the news.
Cleveland designated McKenzie for assignment last week. That the right-hander cleared waivers points to how far his stock has fallen as he’s battled injuries over the past couple seasons. McKenzie is a former top prospect who seemed to break out as a high-end starter in 2022. He posted a 2.96 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning over 31 appearances three years ago. He seemed to be a mid-rotation arm at the very least with a chance to develop into a #1 or #2 starter.
Clearly, that’s not how things have played out. McKenzie barely pitched in 2023. A teres major strain in his shoulder shelved him for a couple months to begin the season. He returned in June but quickly suffered a UCL sprain in his throwing elbow. McKenzie avoided surgery but did not return until the final week of the season.
Hopes for a rebound last year did not materialize. McKenzie’s fastball velocity dropped to a career-low 91.1 MPH. Opponents blitzed him for a 5.11 ERA across 16 starts, and he spent the second half of the season on optional assignment to Columbus. The results weren’t any better in the minors, as he allowed 5.23 earned runs per nine while walking almost 14% of his opponents. That was his final minor league option season.
Cleveland signed him to a $1.95MM arbitration contract in November. That indicated they had some hope that he could turn things around, as his out-of-options status meant he’d need to stick on the active roster or be exposed to waivers. He worked out of the bullpen through the season’s first few weeks. McKenzie’s average fastball speed has jumped closer to 94 MPH in short stints, but neither the command nor the results were there. He allowed seven runs on as many hits through 5 1/3 innings. He walked seven batters and threw three wild pitches while recording just four strikeouts.
McKenzie has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he could decline an outright assignment but would have needed to forfeit the approximate $1.6MM remaining on his salary to test free agency. The 29 other teams all passed on a chance to add him to their big league roster, suggesting he probably would’ve been limited to minor league offers if he hit the market. That made accepting the assignment to Columbus an obvious call. He’ll try to work his way back onto Stephen Vogt’s staff and would become a minor league free agent at the end of the season if the Guards don’t call him up before then.
Mike Elias, wake up
If he accepts the reality that he will not be a starter any time soon and focuses on being a two pitch relief arm, maybe.
I hope you posted your big prediction before this happened.
Me too, but I wasn’t gonna be shocked if someone took a chance on him. He’s been bad for too long and has no options so you have to hope he figures it out quick and he’s not super cheap.
I haven’t seen him for a while. Did he ever eat a sandwich?
Boy that’s really funny. You should write for Jimmy Fallon. Well actually with the poor joke, maybe you already do.
Hiflew – asking if a skinny guy finally ate a sandwich is hilarious but asking a fat guy if he eats too many sandwiches is terribly unfunny? It’s the same joke.. the only difference is that one was pointed at you and it seemed to strike a nerve.
Except he is clearly skinny and I am not fat. And “quite a few, fewer” is not funny regardless.
Yeah, yeah. You’re not fat, you’re big boned. We got it.
Why do I even bother coming here? I guess I am far more stupid than fat because I choose to spend my time in conversation with the likes of you.
I wonder if he would consider getting TJS now? Or if it’s even an option at this point?
I wonder if it’s the shoulder that’s impacting his preformence than the elbow. Either way should have definitely got the surgery in hindsight
Given that he has been pitching (albeit not well), I’m gonna take a wild guess that his UCL is no longer damaged and he doesn’t need the surgery. And as easy as it is for us to say that he should’ve just had the surgery in the first place, we need to acknowledge that the doctor(s) felt at the time that he was better off rehabbing the injury instead of having surgery.
You act like it’s asinine for people to expect teams to want him. When we just saw the brewers give up a significant overpay for Quinn Priester not to long ago. It’s obvious McKenzie is not the same pitcher but I thought at least the White Sox would take a flier
cr4: He’s EXACTLY the type of player the Sox sign: Cheap and useless.
The Guards were lucky he didn’t accept when they offered him an extension in 2022.
It was 2023 spring training it was 5 minutes from signing extension. He got hurt and extension was pulled off table by the front office. Thanks for playing !
That certainly seemed like the most likely outcome but hopefully it ends up being the best for him. It really doesn’t seem like he is in a spot where being on a major league roster is going to help get him back on track.
Reading the article the poor kid has had the kids of death with injuries in 2023. No one freaking talks about it but true shoulder injuries always apparent to be something pitchers can’t bounce back from. He had a shoulder injury, which prob contributed to his elbow injuries by overcompensating with poor machanics. And now he’s fighting his arm to keep him in the show as long as possible. The Braves are all too familiar with guys recently that had all the potential but shoulder injuries really changed their trajectory. Ian Anderson has been fighting shoulder stuff for a while now, then had TJ, but can’t over come the lingering shoulder issues. Kyle Wright, another perfect example. Even Mike Soroka to a degree fits that bill. Now Mike had other freak injuries that played a bigger factor but he has had lingering elbow issues also. Now Lopez is on that bill. I just cringe when I hear shoulder issues. Elbow, guys come back strong as ever and yea it sucks cause they will be out for like 18 months, but they come back to a true picture of their old self. Shoulder though? Even without surgery…. Man… that’s career altering
I would say don’t be so butt hurt by differing opinions, but you do have gloryhole in your name.