4 Cleveland Guardians who have gotten off to a rough start in 2025

Triston McKenzie - Relief Pitcher

The decline of Triston McKenzie has been a difficult watch for quite some time. The once promising starter found himself on the outside looking in of Cleveland's starting rotation, and has been relegated to bullpen duties in an attempt to provide something of note to this Guardians team. Unfortuantely, McKenzie's relief outing have not gone particularly well.

McKenzie has just three appearances on the year, but what was seen in those 4.2 innings of work has not been confidence-inspiring. The 27-year-old Brooklyn native has allowed three runs on four hits in his limited action. A lack of command and control has plagued McKenzie yet again, as he issued six free passes in 23 batters faced. This has been a concern with him for quite some time, and to see it continue to get worse is very concerning.

While it should be pointed out that all of the runs allowed and four of the six walks issued by McKenzie came in one disastrous appearance against the Los Angeles Angels and that his two other appearances were relatively without incident, there is reason why 3 of his 4.2 innings pitched have come in the final third of games with the Guardians trailing by five runs or more. It seems pretty obvious that McKenzie is running out of chances, considering the game situations he has pitched in, so it will be on him to prove that he is indeed worthy of sticking around Cleveland's major league roster.