CLEVELAND INDIANS TOP 10 PROSPECTS
1. TRISTON McKENZIE, RHP
AGE: 23. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-5. WT: 165. DRAFTED: HS – Palm Beach, Fla., 2015 (1st round supp). SIGNED BY: Juan Alvarez.
TRACK RECORD: The last few years have been up-and-down for McKenzie, but he finished 2020 on a decidedly upward trajectory. He made his major league debut three weeks after his 23rd birthday, excelled down the stretch and earned a spot on the Indians’ playoff roster. It was quite the turnaround after McKenzie missed all of 2019 with an upper back injury. Scouts have questioned McKenzie’s durability since the Indians drafted him 42nd overall in 2015 due to his rail-thin 6-foot-5, 165-pound frame, but he’s excelled when healthy. He won the high Class A Carolina League’s pitcher of the year award in 2017 and ranked second in the minors with 186 strikeouts. He reached Double-A the following year as a 20-year-old and put together a strong summer despite being one of the youngest players in the Eastern League. That performance carried into the big leagues in 2020, despite a 24-month gap between competitive games. McKenzie struck out 10 batters in six innings in his debut, the second-most in a debut in franchise history, and posted a 3.24 ERA over 33.1 innings down the stretch to help the Indians secure a playoff spot.
Even with his skinny frame, McKenzie’s fastball averages 93 mph and has reached 97. He holds that velocity well and while it dips in the middle of his starts, he shows the ability to reach back for more and finish strong. McKenzie’s fastball plays
