Former Guardians pitcher’s fall from grace continues after latest Padres DFA 

This spring, Triston McKenzie’s MLB career got a new lease on life when he signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. 

After rising through the Guardians’ minor league system and authoring a breakout 2022 season, McKenzie suffered an arm injury in 2023 that eventually brought about an end to his time on Cleveland’s roster last season. 

But that minor league deal seemed like the best of both worlds, since it reunited him with former Guardians assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla while also allowing him to work on rebuilding his arsenal away from the attention that comes with being on a big league diamond. 

But that pairing came to an end on Monday when the Padres released him from their Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. 

Although McKenzie is still 28, this DFA is another fall from grace for a pitcher who was once viewed as a future ace in Cleveland’s rotation. 

Triston McKenzie was designated for assignment by the Padres

McKenzie’s DFA isn’t a huge surprise, given he had a 15.98 ERA in 16 1/3 innings at El Paso with 22 strikeouts and an eye-popping 40 walks. 

That’s right: 40 walks in 16 1/3 innings. Yikes. 

The clear line of demarcation in McKenzie’s career is the 2023 season when he made just four starts due to a right elbow sprain.

But, instead of undergoing surgery for that injury, McKenzie elected to rehab the injury. That decision allowed him to return for the 2024 season, though he had a 5.11 ERA over 16 starts before being sent down to Triple-A Columbus. 

He started 2025 working as the longman in the Guardians’ bullpen, but they designated him for assignment one month into the season. 

McKenzie’s best season with the Guardians came in 2022 when he had a 2.96 ERA in 191 1/3 innings in the regular season along with adding 11 stellar innings in the postseason. 

The Guardians liked that performance so much they discussed an extension with McKenzie’s camp before he suffered that aforementioned elbow sprain. 

Now he’s set to enter free agency for the second time in his career, only this time it’s coming off a half-season where he averaged more than two walks in every game across Triple-A. 

In years prior, teams don’t have much of a problem keeping a player like McKenzie in their minor league roster given he provides some upside and, at the very least, can eat innings. But the new MLB roster caps mean that veterans in McKenzie’s situation are getting fewer and fewer opportunities.

That said, this likely isn’t the end of the road for McKenzie since pitching is at such a premium. But he’s going to need to turn things around soon if he wants to keep his MLB career going. 

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