Toolshed: McKenzie reflects on solid season

Entering 2016 two things were widely known about Triston McKenzie: He has a potentially special arm but was incredibly raw. For the first 14 starts of the season, the Indians' No. 6 prospect showed his talents, but in his 15th and final outing especially, he also showed there's plenty of room to improve. Now entering the offseason, the hope for all involved is that the 19-year-old is better off after learning just what makes him talented and raw.

McKenzie was the 42nd overall pick in 2015 out of Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) High School, taken by the Indians with their collective balance pick in the first round. As a projectable right-hander with three above-average pitches and a commitment to play college ball at Vanderbilt, McKenzie required the Tribe to dip fairly deep into their signing pool at $2.3 million, much higher than the $1.468 million assigned to the slot. Together with Brady Aiken, Cleveland picked up two high-ceiling arms with its first two picks in the Draft.

But promise doesn't always equate to the fast road in the Minors. Promise sometimes means project.

Standing at 6-foot-5 but only 165 pounds, McKenzie has always seemed ticketed for a lengthy development process as he looks to add strength and size. To avoid overwork and ease him into the pros (he was 17 on Draft day), the Indians held McKenzie back at extended spring training and didn't let what could've been his first full season begin until June with Class A Short Season Mahoning Valley. While the hurler could've chomped at the bit to get his career going, he trusted that the front office had his future in mind when they started him on the slow road.

"I tried not to expect too much coming into the year," he said. "I know the Indians take care of their guys and do what's in their best interests. I just wanted to make sure I had no expectations and tried to focus on performing like I thought I was capable of."

It didn't take long for McKenzie to wipe away any worries about his abilities. Three of his first four outings in the New York-Penn League were quality starts, and it wasn't until July 25 that he allowed more than one run, and even then only one of the two was earned. By the end of July, he owned a 0.55 ERA and 0.95 WHIP -- both second best among all short-season pitchers at that point -- to go with 55 strikeouts and 16 walks through nine starts. What's more, his 49 1/3 innings were most among NYPL pitchers -- a sign that his body was holding up and that he was pitching efficiently, having crossed the 80-pitch barrier only twice in those nine outings.

Two months into the summer, it was easy to see that something special was brewing in Mahoning Valley. McKenzie, who was using his plus fastball and above-average curve to carve up lower-level hitters, could sense it, too.

"I tried not to get too big about it, but I knew I was having really good success there," he said. "I would say I did revel in it and I did embrace it because I wanted to embrace the success I was having, you know. I wanted to use the energy I was getting from my results to keep things rolling."

Having shown there was little left to challenge him at Short Season, the Florida native was pushed to Class A Lake County. It didn't take him long to show similar results. He struck out 11 in his Midwest League debut Aug. 5 and, from that point on, lead all Class A pitchers with 49 strikeouts (compared to only six walks) in 34 frames.

But it wasn't a perfect transition. McKenzie allowed nine earned runs over 18 innings in his first three starts for a 4.50 ERA. He settled down for two scoreless outings on Aug. 21 and 26 (during which he fanned 17 batters over 11 2/3 innings), but his worst outing of the season was his last. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six over 4 1/3 frames on Sept. 1 in a 6-2 loss at Dayton. All three runs came in the fourth and fifth innings -- two on a double by 2016 second overall pick Nick Senzel, who finished with two two-baggers off McKenzie on the night. That caused his Midwest League ERA to jump from 2.73 to 3.13, where it would finish.

Instead of letting the outing leave a bad memory on an otherwise spectacular 2016, McKenzie is taking it as a teachable moment for 2017 and beyond.

"I felt like I could've done a lot more, but at the same time, I'm not super disappointed," he said. "In a way, it was good for me because it plays into the idea about staying stronger through the outing, especially against a good-hitting team like Dayton. I went up against guys like [Reds No. 12 prospect Chris] Okey and Senzel, and those are tough outs. Hopefully, when I'm back next year, I can face hitters like that with a little more confidence."

"Staying stronger" is an important takeaway and plays into both McKenzie's and the Indians' plans.

Eleven of the 12 earned runs he allowed with Lake County came in the fourth inning or later (16 innings in total), giving him an 6.19 ERA over that span compared to a 0.50 ERA in innings 1-3.

Part of that stat could be that Class A hitters are more knowledgeable than their Short Season counterparts and can pick up on pitcher tendencies better in second and third at-bats. To that end, McKenzie has talked about his need to improve his changeup (already a 55-grade pitch, according to MLB.com, on the 20-80 scouting scale) and his sequencing to keep full-season hitters off-balance.

McKenzie's slender frame and stuff at this point are somewhat reminiscent of Carl Edwards Jr., who dominated the lower Minors as a starter at a listed 6-foot-3, 170 pounds but has moved to the bullpen with the Cubs over worries about his durability and control. With a 2.4 BB/9 this season at both levels, McKenzie hasn't encountered the control issues that Edwards dealt with even in the lower Minors, though he doesn't have the prolific strikeout numbers yet either.

As for strength, McKenzie is planning on being proactive this offseason. He's headed to Cleveland soon for a meeting with the organization about what to expect during instructional league and will then head to Arizona for instructs at the Indians' Spring Training facility in Goodyear. (Indians participants start games Oct. 3.) After that, he'll work out at home with Eric Cressey, a strength and conditioning specialist with a gym in Jupiter, Fla., who boasts Indians ace Corey Kluber among his clients. The goal will be to get to McKenzie to a point where he not only can add some power and weight but also help him maintain that power throughout outings and throughout his first full season in 2017.

In the meantime, the accolades have begun to roll in. Baseball America named McKenzie its Class A Short Season Pitcher of the Year for his work with Mahoning Valley. MLB.com pushed him to No. 100 in its overall ranking of prospects Tuesday night following the graduation of Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him climb even further when rankings are updated ahead of the 2017 season.

The foundation has begun to be built for McKenzie to meet his high ceiling in the years to come. Starting this offseason, he'll work on making sure it's a solid one.

"I would say I'm satisfied with the way things went this season," he said. "Not overjoyed or anything like that because there's definitely room for improvement. But I look forward to the development part of my game and working on getting stronger."