When the Indians drafted a 6’5″, 165 lb 17 year old right handed pitcher in the first round last year, in the eyes of many it was a bigger deal than taking the left handed former first overall pick Brady Aiken earlier in the first. The spindly Triston McKenzie has an electric fastball that regularly hits 94 with movement and good enough breaking stuff to make him worthy of a first round pick.
At just 17 and already having pitched a full High School (at Royal Palm Beach High) season in 2015, the Indians took things really slow with McKenzie last year. He joined the AZL Indians late in the season and made just four appearances, averaging three innings a piece. This was not because he got knocked around, but to keep him pitching regularly without over stressing his arm. If you didn’t notice last year, he didn’t get knocked around at all, allowing just three walks, four hits and one run in those 12 innings, striking out 17. While most of the players in the AZL range between 18 and 19 years old, the 17 year old McKenzie looked significantly more advanced and his incredible numbers (0.58 WHIP, 12.8 K/9, 0.75 ERA).
Still taking things slow, McKenzie began his 2016 campaign with the Indians in Arizona for extended Spring Training. These games don’t count for anything and the numbers aren’t recorded publicly anywhere, but I was fortunate to see a few of his starts. In the first on April 18th against the Brewers team of the same level, he threw three innings, striking out three and walking two. He allowed two hits and a run and committed an error on a pick off throw to first. In his second, he was considerably better, striking out seven in 3.2 innings, walking one and allowing four hits and two runs.
The May 10th start showed both the best and worst of McKenzie. In the first three innings, his only hit allowed was given up to a player with Major League experience on a rehab assignment (Kyle Skipworth) and every pitch went exactly where he wanted it to. Facing mostly young players, he took advantage of their lack of plate discipline and had batters swinging at balls in the dirt and at shoulder level. His use of the high fastball followed by a low change was absolutely devastating and it’s hard to imagine hitters even two levels higher being able to make contact.
On the negative side, it was a reminder that McKenzie is still years away from the Majors. In his fourth inning, he may not have been physically tired, but he lost control and balls that had been tantalizing just below the knees now were in the dirt. This led to his only walk and two wild pitches. He never gave in by throwing balls in the middle of the strike zone, but he won’t be at his most effective until his arm is stretched out for at least six or seven innings per start.
In addition, McKenzie has had particular trouble from the stretch with his command. The lanky right hander has an incredibly high leg kick (as visualized above) from the wind-up and he goes nearly as high from the stretch. This, combined with some control issues, has lead to issues with runners being free to steal. McKenzie is an incredibly talented pitcher and he will certainly be able to correct this one issue in short time.
For the moment though, McKenzie seems to be avoiding the issue by never allowing runners to reach base. In all, during Extended Spring Training I saw McKenzie pitch 10.1 innings during which he struck out 18 and walked six. These stats are unofficial as there are no officially kept stats for this league, but they match up similarly to those from his time in the AZL last year and will likely be repeated this season as he joins the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. He has already been added to the Scrappers and could very well be the team’s ace when they open up their schedule on June 17th.
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