Triston McKenzie Keeps Cruising

The Indians keep waiting for righthander Triston McKenzie to hit a speed bump. But so far: nothing.

“We always knew with Triston that nothing ever rocks him. He’s as steady as can be,” scouting director Brad Grant said. “We just want him to go out and max his potential, and he has not hit any adversity yet. He just fights right through it.”

The 20-year-old McKenzie may not have the frame of a workhorse (6-foot-5, 165 pounds), but he does have the pitching résumé. Through his first 20 starts at high Class A Lynchburg, he went 9-6, 3.64 while leading the Carolina League with 142 strikeouts (against 41 walks) in 113.2 innings.

Opposing batters hit just .196 against him, and he was one of the few minor league pitchers with 100 more strikeouts than walks.

“The great thing about Triston is he consistently leverages the baseball down in the zone,” Grant said, “and he’s able to command that fastball. And the breaking ball and changeup play.”

The Indians made McKenzie a 2015 supplemental first-round pick out of Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) High. He has dominated pro competition like few other pitchers.

He recorded a 0.59 ERA through his first 61 pro innings in short-season ball before joining low Class A Lake County in the second half of 2016. In six Midwest League starts he had a 3.18 ERA and 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Suffice to say, McKenzie’s name came up frequently during trade talks with other clubs in July, but the Indians held tight.

“We’re going to keep on pushing him and keep on trying to get him to hit that adversity, but who knows? We’ll see,” Grant said. “If he keeps doing what he’s doing, we’re in a good spot.”