Cleveland Guardians' Frustrating Pitcher Put on Notice

This Cleveland Guardians pitcher has been put on notice heading into the 2025 MLB season.
Jun 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie (24) reacts after giving up a home run in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Jun 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie (24) reacts after giving up a home run in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images
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The Cleveland Guardians had one of the worst starting rotations in baseball last season, and a big reason for that was the disappointing campaigns of a couple of their young pitchers.

Triston McKenzie was one of the biggest culprits, as he went 3-5 with a 5.11 ERA over 16 starts before being demoted to the minor leagues.

James Mastrucci of Away Back Gone has listed McKenzie among several Guardians players who need to pick up the pace in 2025, and he doesn't think it's a guarantee that McKenzie will even make the opening day roster.

"Cleveland will certainly give him a chance to return to their rotation, considering they have plenty of question marks beyond Tanner Bibee," Mastrucci wrote. "McKenzie is going to have to beat out multiple arms vying for spots and with his recent performances, it is far from being a guarantee that he will be on Cleveland's Opening Day roster."

On the plus side, McKenzie has shown considerable potential in the past.

Back in 2022, for example, he pitched to the tune of a 2.96 ERA, allowing 138 hits while registering 190 strikeouts over 191.1 innings of work.

The 27-year-old then made just four starts due to injuries in 2023, so his breakout 2022 campaign feels like a distant memory at this point.

Cleveland re-signed Shane Bieber—who is coming off of Tommy John surgery—in free agency and also acquired Luis Ortiz via trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Guardians will also have a few pitchers competing for those last couple of spots in the rotation, so there is no doubt that McKenzie's job is on the line entering spring training.


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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.