CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie entered this season coming off of a sprained UCL, which he opted to rehab rather than repair with surgery last year. While his velocity has been down this season, McKenzie feels it's less about the elbow injury and more about getting back into a groove after missing most of last season dealing with that ailment and a shoulder injury.
"I've been pain-free all year, but I think there's a level of competition that I've had to get back into. So I think it's been kind of popping up and getting a little bit smoother for me in the past couple of starts—and the goal is to keep it going and get it rolling through, from now until the end of the year," McKenzie said.
Through his last three games, McKenzie has thrown 19 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched. He's given up five earned runs. Over the course of the season so far, he's posted a 2-2 record with a 3.97 ERA over 34 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts and a 1.44 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched).
McKenzie was uncertain about his path to recovery last year. The option to have surgery or to rehab the elbow was a decision that came with a lot of thought. After choosing the latter, McKenzie feels good about that decision and has targeted a goal for himself as he aims to remain healthy this season amid a number of other injuries to the pitching staff, including Shane Bieber, Gavin Williams and Trevor Stephan.
"I think health is paramount. I think me being able to go out there and throw 30, 32 starts has been at the forefront of my mind and just being able to go out there and compete for the guys and just put my best foot forward," McKenzie said.
It may feel a bit easier to find motivation in that regard with the hot start Cleveland has seen this season. The Guardians have won nine series this season. That is, in a way, a goal the club has set for itself.
"We're not necessarily worried about winning every single game. It's more about just putting our best foot forward and being able to win series, being able to win two out of three, being able to win three out of four and just prove that we're out here fighting, fighting until our last breath," McKenzie said. "I think we played some good teams and being able to put up fights against them has been really cool."
At the end of the day, this Guardians team is a continuation of the team we've seen grow over the past few years. A team that fights—through injury and adversity, through every at-bat, and through all of their matchups.
With a 24-13 record at the top of their division, McKenzie and his teammates plan to keep embracing that identity as they look to remain hot throughout the year.
"I think you've seen it since the beginning of the year. I think you saw it in our win [Wednesday], we had the walk-off win. But I think there's fight in this team and you can get production from the top of the lineup, you can get production from the bottom of the lineup. And it doesn't matter if it's the fifth inning or if it's the 11th, we're going to put up a fight," McKenzie said.
