TRISTON ANDREW MCKENZIE...2015 graduate of Royal Palm Beach High School (Fla.), recording a senior ERA of 0.79 (157 SO, 91.0 IP)...Was committed to play at Vanderbilt prior to signing with Cleveland...Was a 2015 Perfect Game USA first-team Preseason All-American and led Royal Palm Beach to the Class 7A state tournament for the first time since 2000...His brother, Tyler, is currently the starting CF at Georgia Southern.
2024
Returned to full health but grappled with inconsistent command, issuing 49BB in 75.2IP (5.8BB/9) across 16 starts before being optioned to AAA Columbus on June 30, where he remained for the duration of the year...Conceded a career-high 5.11 ERA (43ER/75.2IP)…His 5.8 BB/9.0IP was the highest mark in MLB, and his 2.3 HR/9.0IP ranked third-highest in the Majors (min. 15GS)…Made his third career Opening Day roster (also, 2021-22), rejoining the Guards rotation following an injury-riddled 2023...Posted a 3.23 ERA (17ER/47.1IP) in his first nine starts, including fi ring a season-high 7.0IP on May 1 at HOU... Faltered in his final seven starts with the Guardians before his 6/30 option to AAA Columbus, going 1-2 with an 8.26 ERA (26ER/28.1IP), 1.98 WHIP and 1.077 opponent OPS...At the time of his option, he was leading the Majors in HR (19) and walks allowed (49) and T12th in runs (46)…His 1.56 WHIP was 90th among 92 MLB pitchers with at least 75 IP...Made 13 appearances (10GS) with Columbus, punching out 9.5 batters per 9.0IP (56SO/53.1IP) but continued to be vulnerable to walks (5.6 BB/9.0IP) and home runs (1.7 HR/9.0IP), going 4-4 with a 5.23 ERA (31ER/53.1IP)...Worked in relief last three outings, Sept. 10-20, posting a 3.68 ERA (7.1IP, 4H, 3ER, 8SO)…3.0IP postseason relief stint as well (3.0IP, 3R, 2HR)…Limited opponents to a .176 (16-for-91) off his curveball and a .143 (6-for-42) average against his slider with Cleveland...surrendered 16 of his 19 homers off fastballs (.303 BAA).
2023
Saw his 2023 season derailed by injuries, missing a total of 146 games due to two stints on the injured list…Was diagnosed with a right Teres Major Strain during Spring Training that delayed his season debut until June 4…Was sidelined again with a right elbow strain for 88 games from June 17 through Sept. 23...Had only one stint on the Injured List in his career prior (8/25-9/1/2021)...Made his season debut on June 4 at Minnesota, allowing one hit over 5.0-scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk in a no-decision that saw Cleveland win 2-1...McKenzie became the fifth pitcher in MLB history with a stat line of 5.0-or-fewer-shutout-innings, one-or-fewer hits, one-or-fewer walks and 10+ strikeouts...The only other Clevelander to turn the trick was Mike Clevinger on April 7, 2019 vs. Toronto...Made two starts in the final six games of the season after returning from the Injured List…Allowed four runs (earned) in 6.0 total innings of work across two starts…his final start of the season came in the penultimate game of the year, allowing one run (earned) on three hits with one strikeout and three walks over 4.1 innings in an 8-0 loss at Detroit on Sept. 30…Only reached 90 pitches once in 2023 (June 10 vs. HOU).
2022
Enjoyed a breakout campaign, establishing career bests in starts (30), innings (191.1), strikeouts (190) and walk rate (5.9%)...Wrapped up the regular season with a 2.96 ERA, becoming the first qualified Cleveland pitcher to record a sub-3.00 ERA in his age 24-or-younger season since Dennis Eckersley in 1975 (2.60, age 20)...McKenzie restricted opposing hitters to a .201 batting average (138-for-688), fourth-lowest in the AL/seventh-lowest in MLB, and the 11th-best single-season mark in club history...Since his debut in 2020, opponents are batting just .196 against him, trailing only HOU’s Cristian Javier (.178) for lowest among AL qualifiers in that span...Pitched to a 5-3 mark with a 2.77 ERA (25ER/81.1IP), ranked among the AL leaders in home WHIP (fifth, 0.90), ERA (seventh) and opp. batting avg. (ninth, .196)...From July 1 on, McKenzie went 4-2 with a 1.98 ERA (13ER/59.0IP) and a 0.78 WHIP at home...His .198 career opponent batting average as a starter is second-lowest thru a pitcher’s first 60 starts with CLE in club history, trailing only Herb Score’s .194 mark (1955-56)...Triston’s 0.951 WHIP this season ranked third in the AL/fifth in MLB and was the lowest figure by a Guardian over a 162-game season since Corey Kluber’s 0.869 mark en route to the 2017 AL Cy Young Award...Signaled the ninth-lowest single-season WHIP in club history (since 1901), including the fourth-lowest in the Live-Ball Era (since 1920)...Since McKenzie debuted in 2020, his career 1.027 WHIP is the third-lowest in the AL (min. 300.0IP), trailing only TOR’s Alek Manoah (1.012) and NYY’s Gerrit Cole (1.024)...Cleveland went 13-1 in McKenzie’s starts this season when he prevented the opponent from homering, compared to 6-10 when he surrendered one-or-more longballs...39 of the 63 runs (61.9%) he yielded came on the 25HR...Went 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA (5ER/33.2IP), the lowest July ERA for a Cleveland pitcher (min. 25.0IP) since Gaylord Perry’s 1.07 mark in July 1972; Triston also registered the lowest single-month ERA by a CLE hurler under the same parameter since Corey Kluber in Sept./Oct. 2017 (0.84)...ranked among AL leaders during the month in ERA (second), opp. batting avg. (second, .165)...From July 1 on, McKenzie went 7-5 with a 2.19 ERA (27ER/111.0IP) in 17 starts (11QS), trailing only CWS’s Dylan Cease (1.92) and LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (2.05) for the AL’s best ERA in that span...Concluded the season permitting three-or-fewer earned runs in each of his last 11 starts, the longest streak of his career...Fanned 13+ batters without issuing a free pass in two starts: Aug. 19, 2022 vs. CWS (14SO, 0BB) and Sept. 21 vs. CWS (13SO, 0BB), becoming the third pitcher in club history (since 1901) with multiple such games in his career, joining Shane Bieber and Sam McDowell (2G each)...Only MLB hurler in 2022 to post multiple such starts...Triston induced a 45.0% whiff rate on his curveball, fifth-highest of any offering by an MLB pitcher (min. 150PA)... opponents struck out in 52.8% of plate appearances that ended with his curve, second-highest in MLB under the same parameter behind only NYM’s Edwin Diaz’s slider (54.3%)...Opposing hitters managed just .120 (19-for-158) clip in PA that ended with McKenzie’s curve, the lowest mark on any pitch in the AL (min. 150PA)...Posted a 3.27 ERA in two postseason starts, including six shutout IP vs. TB in Game 2 of the ALWC vs. Tampa Bay (2H, 8K)…At 25 years, 67 days old, McKenzie became the youngest player in club history to toss six-or-more scoreless innings in a Postseason start—Duster Mails held the previous mark (26.006 on Oct. 7, 1920 - G3 of 1920 World Series at Brooklyn Robins)...Became the second pitcher in club history to toss six-or-more scoreless innings while permitting two-or-fewer hits in a Postseason start, joining Trevor Bauer in G1 of the 2017 ALDS vs. New York-AL on Oct. 5, 2017 (6.2IP, 0R, 2H)…Recorded six consecutive outs via the strikeout from the second-thru-third frames, becoming the second Cleveland pitcher in Postseason history to accomplish the feat (Kluber in G1 2016 World Series vs. Chicago-NL.
2021
Had a successful second-half run in his sophomore ML campaign...In 2021, established new career highs with 25 games/24 starts (+17/+16), 120.0IP (+86.2), 5 wins (+3) and 136 K's (+94)...His 136 K's paced the entire pitching staff, while his 24 starts were 2nd-most behind only Zach Plesac (25)...Was 10th among A.L. rookie SP in fWAR (1.1)...Made his first career Opening Day roster and was with the Major League club until his first of 4 options (5 total stints) to AAA Columbus on May 22....Had a brief stint on 10-day IL with right shoulder fatigue from Aug. 22-31 (did not see game action from Aug. 22-Sept 1)...Club went 10-14 in his 24 starts...Triston exited with lead just 8x as offense provided McKenzie with 2-or-fewer runs of support in 15 of his 24 starts (one-or-zero runs of support 13x)...Club averaged 3.66 RS/9 IP for him (the A.L. leader was at 7.30 R/9....Went 1-3 with 7.48 ERA over first 7 starts (27.2IP, 21H, 23ER, 8HR, 26BB, 39SO, 8.5 BB/9 IP) leading up to May 22 option to AAA; 4+ BB's in 5 of those 7 starts... Was tied for first in MLB in walks (30) at the time of the first option...Was recalled for spot starts on May 26, May 31 and June 12 over the following three weeks as the rotation was decimated by injuries to Plesac (5/23), Bieber (6/13) and Civale (6/21)...Most sustained stretch of effectiveness spanned across 11 starts from July 9 - immediately following his 4th and final recall from Columbus - through Sept. 14, during which he went 4-3 w/a 2.96 ERA (67.0IP, 38H, 22ER, 8HR, 11BB, 68SO); 9 of those 11 outings were quality starts...Was the 5th-lowest ERA in the A.L. over span as his walks per 9.0 IP went from 8.3 (39/42.1 IP) thru June 30 down to 2.25 (19/77.2) from July 1-end of season... Issued one-or-zero walks in 11 of 12 starts from July 9-Sept. 20...As 27th man for May 31 DH vs. CWS (G1), set franchise record w/ 8 consecutive strikeouts (3rd thru 6th innings)...Was optioned to AAA Columbus four times (May 22, 27, 31; June 13), going 1-1 with a 2.95 ERA across 5 total starts (21.1IP, 18H, 7ER, 5HR, 12BB, 23SO)...Fell just 4 outs shy of becoming 24th pitcher in MLB history to record a perfect game in 11-0 SHO on Aug. 15 at DET (8.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 11SO, 106 pitches)...Retired first 23 batters faced in order (24 of 25 overall) until Harold Castro broke up bid with a 2-out single to RF in 8th... Set new career highs in IP/SO/pitches...Per ESPN, McKenzie became first rookie w/ PG bid of 7.0+IP since Chicago-AL's Zach Stewart in 2011...First Cleveland hurler overall with a PG bid of 7.0+IP since Len Barker's 1981 PG.
2020
Triston made six impressive starts and appeared in eight games in 2020, his first taste of Major League action in in his sixth professional season...Did not appear in his first Major League camp in Spring Training and was optioned on March 9 and opened the campaign at the Alternate Training Site in Lake County before his Aug. 22 recall and debut...Earned 6-1 win on Aug. 22 vs. Detroit, becoming first Cleveland pitcher - 8th overall in MLB (since 1893) - to have 10+ strikeouts/ allow 2-or-fewer hits in his MLB debut (Elias) - first since MIL's Freddy Peralta (5/13/18) and just the fourth since 2000...His 10 K's marked second-most in club history in an MLB debut, most since Luis Tiant's club record 11 on July 19, 1964 (G2, 9.0 IP) at Yankee Stadium...Did not allow a hit until the 4th (3.1IP)...First career SO came in the 1st inning against Miguel Cabrera...Final line: 6.0IP, 2H, 1R/ER, 1BB, 10SO... In second start on Aug. 28 at St. Louis, did not factor into decision of 14-2 Tribe victory; logged more pitches (84), but fewer innings (4.0IP, 3H, 2R-ER, HR, 3BB, 3SO) than his MLB debut...On Sept. 2 at KC, tossed 6.0 scoreless IP in 5-0 win, retiring first 10 he faced in game...Recorded at least 4.0 IP in all six starts, tossing a season-high 6.0 IP two times, and did not record an outing over his 92-pitch start on Sept. 8 vs. KC... Posted two scoreless relief outings of 2.0 IP on Sept. 23 vs. Chicago-AL and Sept. 26 vs. Pittsburgh (relief: 4.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6 SO)...As a starter he was 2-1 w/a 3.68 ERA in 6 starts (29.1IP, 20H, 12ER, 9BB, 36SO, .192 avg)...Overall on the year, Major League hitters hit .179 (21-for-117, 6 HR), right-handed hitters hit .143 (9-for-63) and lefties batted .222 (12-for-54)... Batters were 1-for-10 off him with RISP...Allowed a two-run home run to Gary Sánchez in the 6th inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card Series vs. NYY in his first career postseason appearance (1.2IP, 1H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 2SO).
2019
Did not pitch due to injury in 2019, suffering a strain of the right rotator cuff (subcapularis) during spring training...Was shutdown for eight weeks and upon returning from the injury over the summer, he suffered a right pectoral strain that effectively ended his campaign.... Added to the 40-man roster on Nov. 20.
2018
Started the year on the 7-day DL with forearm soreness, made season debut with Akron, 6/7...Led RubberDucks starters in ERA... Named top prospect in Indians system by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus...Named Best Curveball in Indians Farm System by Baseball America...Ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the Eastern League by Baseball America following the 2018 season.
2017
Named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in his age-19 season, as he paced the league in strikeouts (186), wins (12) and opponent batting average...186 strikeouts ranked 2nd in all of Minor League Baseball and struck out 10 or more batters on six occasions... Represented the Indians at the 2017 MLB SiriusXM Futures Game and was named to the Carolina League's Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star teams.
2016
Named Baseball America's 2016 Short-Season Pitcher of the Year after going 6-5 with a 1.62 ERA over 15 starts between Mahoning Valley and Lake County...Recognized as third-best prospect and Best Curveball in Indians organization entering 2017 by Baseball America.
