Guardians Starting Pitching Preview: The Enigma
Everything needs a facelift after so long. Legacy brands like Pepsi or Coca Cola don’t need to tweak much, but there are subtle differences over the years. Sometimes it’s major, like New Coke, and sometimes it’s just shifting the color blobs of the Pepsi circle. The Cuyahoga Pitching Factory LLC underwent a much-needed face lift this offseason, adding Luis L Ortiz, Slade Cecconi, Jakob Junis, and John Means to the roster while also re-signing free agent and former ace Shane Bieber. Junis is likely headed for a long relief/fireman role with the bullpen, but he is capable of starting, but the others are all likely to be in the rotation at some point in the season. Fitting them into spots and molding them with the guys already there will be the fun and interesting part, so in this series, I’ll take a look at the three groups of players that will be in the rotation mix this season. Today? The Enigma
The Enigma
Triston McKenzie
2024 stats: 16 games started, 3-5 record, 75.2 IP, 5.11 ERA, 6.46 FIP, 1.51 WHIP, 74 Ks, 49 BBs
The tale of 2024 was a rough one for the man they call Sticks. Coming off a 2023 that was mostly lost to injury, no one knew what to expect out of his rebound campaign in 2024. Even pitch by pitch was an adventure, as he could break off a curveball so vicious, you could hear the batters' bowels clench, then immediately throw four straight meatballs down the center that got crushed for tanks. After 16 starts, the team finally pulled the plug and demoted him to the minors, where he had slightly better results but not by much. It’s obvious that he is, was, and might still be struggling with the yips and/or control problems stemming from not being able to repeat his delivery due to the forearm issue he suffered in 2023.
Will he get over it in 2025? Status unclear. He looked decent in his first spring start, hitting 95 at times on the radar gun, and was in control for most of the two innings he pitched. The next start? He walked five batters. A good McKenzie solidifies this rotation in a way that it hasn’t had in two years. The difference in 2025 from years past is viable options are coming up, whereas in 2023 and 2024, rookies and retreads alike we called upon when the injury bug came. McKenzie is out of options, so he is likely to make the team out of camp since they don’t want to run the risk of losing him for nothing or dealing him for an AA prospect/PTBNL situation. However, because of the injury he sustained in 2023, when he and most everyone thought he was going get Tommy John, they could hide him on the injured list if there are concerns that he is not ready for the bigs yet. I would wager he is likely to be among the starting five out of spring training, with someone like Ben Lively or Jakob Junis as a piggyback option early if it doesn’t go well.
