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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie will open the 2023 season on the injured list and could face a lengthy stint before heading back on the mound. The rightie is in his fourth year in the majors and is coming off a career-best year in ERA (2.96) and strikeouts (190).
In 2022, McKenzie made 22 starts, finishing with an 11-11 record including an 0.95 WHIP.
Triston McKenzie injury update
June 3 Update — McKenzie will be re-instated from the 60-day IL and will start Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. It will be his season debut and the 25-32 Guardians could certainly use a spark from him.
May 24 Update — McKenzie has logged a rehab assignment and will likely get one more under his belt before returning to the majors. If all goes well, he could be back up by the end of the month.
May 4 update — Still no big update on McKenzie. He has begun throwing bullpens and has completed multiple as of Wednesday, but there isn’t an updated timeframe on when he could be back in the rotation. For now, it is still expected McKenzie will be sidelined until the end of May or early June.
April 10 update — It sounds like we could be getting more clarity on McKenzie soon:
Triston McKenzie's rehab process is going well. He's expected to begin a throwing program later this week. He was asymptomatic when going through tests yesterday. They'll have more clarity on a timetable to return once he starts throwing.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) April 10, 2023
March 30 update — McKenzie was pulled after just one inning during Sunday’s final Spring Training game against the Seattle Mariners, in what was described as normal “arm soreness.” The Guardians pitcher would go on to get a subsequent MRI, where the news was revealed to be much worse.
That MRI came back to reveal that he has a teres major muscle strain and will be shut down for at least two weeks. Even when he does inch closer to a return, he’ll still need to work his way back into playing shape. The whole process could take roughly up to eight weeks. That would put McKenzie’s season debut potentially close to the end of May.