Triston McKenzie was supposed to be one of the faces of the Cleveland Guardians for many years.
When he broke into the majors with a strong heater and a nasty curveball, all packaged in a tall, thin, baby-faced package, the sky was the limit.
But now, it’s hard to know if McKenzie will ever make it back to the major leagues at all.
He’s in Arizona right now, pitching with the Guardians’ Rookie-ball team at their spring training complex, trying to rediscover himself.
In his most recent outing, he was removed with an illness. Before that, he had compiled a 6.75 ERA against players so far away from even sniffing MLB.
It’s a shocking downfall without one explanation.
Mostly, it’s just sad.
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McKenzie was meant to be great. For a period of time, he was legitimately on the verge of greatness.
And then, in one of those examples of life not being fair, he lost it. His stuff regressed a bit. Injuries hit. His luck wasn’t great.
It all piled up to result in a regression that no one saw coming.
Now, McKenzie is at the bottom rung of the minor leagues and struggling to get outs there.
It was never meant to be this way.
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