Lake County Sentinel
Triston McKenzie as impressive on the field as he is off of it
BY JUSTIN LADA
SENIOR WRITER
What were you doing at 19 years old?
Me, I was in community college trying to study for an economics exam without being distracted by a division race that the Indians were in that September.
Triston McKenzie is figuring out how to get out hitters that are mostly two or three years older than him and deal with the expectations that come with being a top prospect for an organization.
It’s the hitters who really need to work on figuring out McKenzie.
All the Indians Competitive Balance pick has done since his promotion to Lake County is throw 18 innings, allowed nine runs on 14 hits with 26 strikeouts and just one walk.
His Classic Park debut was pretty good except for one hiccup where he allowed three runs in the sixth inning when right fielder David Armendariz lost his glove trying to catch a ball in right field in that sixth inning that should have been at most a sacrifice fly and the second out of the sixth. While David was a good sport being one-Armendariz(h/t David S. Glasier), he also nearly homered and brought the Captains back with a triple. More importantly, McKenzie’s right arm worked just fine once again.
He hovered around 89-91 with his fastball but spotted it in and outside mostly when he wanted. His slider bit and his changeup was incredibly deceptive and looked like his fastball coming out of his hand. For a 19 year old in a league advanced for his age and just his 16th professional start, McKenzie’s pitchability, poise, maturity and personality seem anything but that of a 19 year old. He even has a humble confidence about him.
“That (tonight) was struggling for me so far,” he said. “Hopefully it doesn’t get any worse than that.”
Whenever he does struggle, his maturity will make it easy for him to get over, work through and get back on the bump and have more success.
But he followed that up with “there’s always something to improve on.”
Captains Manager Tony Mansolino has referred to McKenzie as an “old soul” but says that with the team away from the field, he’s shown more of his 19-year old kid self and having fun being a professional baseball player. But Mansolino added that when it’s time to pitch, he’s all business and has confidence he’ll take care of his business. He didn’t even flinch pitching in front of Indians VP Chris Antonetti and other members of the Tribe brass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6KKjnC735k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKPiCQUHwyI
As for his 6-foot-5, 165lb frame, McKenzie likes to call himself “wiry” but is comfortable going out and pitching and letting the rest take care of itself.
It’s the hitters who will have to try to get comfortable against him, because the more experience he gets and success he has, the harder it’s going to be for hitters to have success against him.
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POSTED 08/17/2016 00:50
Photo by Justin Lada
Photo by Justin Lada