Former Guardians pitcher's Padres struggles shows Cleveland cut bait at right time 

At one point in time, it looked like Triston McKenzie was going to be the next great Guardians pitcher. He authored a fantastic season with Cleveland in 2022 and even had some extension talks with the team in 2023 that ended up fizzling out. 

While that may be just three years ago, it feels more like 300 years right now. 

After struggling in Triple-A last year with the Guardians, McKenzie signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres in the offseason and posted a 14.85 ERA in 13 1/3 innings in Triple-A EL Paso before the Padres replaced him on the development list on May 12. 

How the mighty have fallen. 

Triston McKenzie’s career seems to be done after struggles with Padres 

Most of McKenzie’s struggles can be traced back to the start of 2023 when he missed the start of the season after an MRI revealed a strain in his right teres major muscle. 

He ended up missing most of the season after electing to rehab the injury instead of undergoing surgery, and he finished the year with a 5.06 ERA in just 16 innings. 

He managed to throw 75 2/3 innings in 2024, but had a 5.11 ERA and missed three months with a right elbow strain. 

The Guardians broke camp with him in their bullpen last season (in large part because he was out of options), but designated him for assignment a couple weeks into the season once it became clear that he didn’t have it. 

He ended up clearing waivers and spent most of the season in the Arizona Complex League, where he had a 6.91 ERA in 14 innings. 

Those struggles carried over to this time with the Padres, and have gotten so bad they decided to place him on the development list, which means he gets to stay in the Padres’ system without taking up a minor league roster spot. Usually that list is reserved for pitchers with innings limit or workload issues. 

Neither of those really apply to McKenzie, who recorded 20 strikeouts during his time with El Paso along with 25 walks and four home runs. 

While Mckenzie was able to get his average fastball velocity up to 93 miles per hour last season before reaching new heights with it in the spring, he wasn’t able to hit his spots and looked like a shell of himself. 

The Padres made sense as a landing spot for him given they also have a solid pitching lab and have former Guardians coach Ruben Niebla as their pitching coach, but it seems like even they weren’t able to fix him. 

McKenzie will always be held in high regard among Guardians fans thanks to his strong performance on their quest back to the postseason in 2022, but his struggles this year have made it clear that Cleveland made the right decision to cut bait with him last season. 

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