McKenzie's journey to mentor and 'fun uncle'

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Triston McKenzie is striving to be more than just an elite starting pitcher. He wants to be the “fun uncle.”

I haven’t covered too many years of baseball. I was an intern for MLB.com in 2017 and '18 and have been full-time on the Cleveland beat since '19. In those seven seasons in clubhouses, meeting players all over the game, none have been like McKenzie.

He has a passion unlike anyone -- inside or outside of baseball -- I’ve ever seen to give back to his community.

As soon as McKenzie became a big leaguer, he laid the ground work for his True2U Mentorship program, which helps eighth graders prepare for and make the transition to high school. They meet with McKenzie and ask him questions about life and baseball. The right-hander is actively participating with the kids through the structured setup of the program, and he’s often bringing groups of children of all ages out to Progressive Field for games.

“For me, it’s trying to pave the way, or just even be a positive light in somebody else’s world, because I know I’m only [here] for a short amount of time,” McKenzie said. “So [I’m] trying to uplift people, or just help them in any way.”

But what’s different about McKenzie is that this is more than just a charitable effort. It’s a lifestyle.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers made their playoff run earlier this year, McKenzie met up with two of the students in his mentorship program to watch a game together. This wasn’t arranged through the Guardians. It wasn’t a requirement of his program. It was McKenzie wanting to cultivate a relationship that started to bloom through the program.

“I think it hits a little bit deeper,” McKenzie said when asked why he goes the extra mile. “It sticks a little bit more with them and I feel like, for me, being able to make a positive impact in a structured environment as well as in a more personal environment is helpful -- for me and for them.”

McKenzie can remember the days when he was a kid, going to Dick’s Sporting Goods with his friends to try on every glove they had in the store. The coolest ones were the gloves that had big leaguers’ signatures -- like Derek Jeter or Troy Tulowitzki-- in the palm. He recalls wearing Nike shoes because Jeter, his favorite player growing up, wore Jordans, and that was the closest McKenzie would get.

“They used to hurt my feet,” he said with a laugh. “I used to tell my parents, ‘I don’t care, I want to wear them.’ It’s just the little things.”

These core memories have grounded McKenzie. He can put himself in the shoes of any young kid in the stands, desperate for a big leaguer’s attention. So, when he has the opportunity to interact with them, he doesn’t hesitate.

“Just trying to show them that, one, it’s possible,” McKenzie said, “and two, I’m not just a big leaguer that they see on TV. I’m a regular person that wanted all the stuff that they want now. And now that I have it, it’s showing them that it’s attainable, that they can do it, too.”

He’s more than just a lead-by-example mentor. McKenzie practices what he preaches.

Two of his mentees expressed interest in shooting basketball highlights and creating videos for their friends. McKenzie was excited to hear about their creative aspirations, and he wanted to encourage them to follow them. So, if they got good grades, McKenzie promised them he’d buy them a camera to share.

They followed through with their end of the deal, and the camera has since been purchased.

“I probably would’ve been over the moon to get a camera like that,” McKenzie said. “To just spread that joy is a big thing for me.”

McKenzie also gave a pair of mentees his phone number so that they could talk to him at any point about baseball, training, school or any other sport. As much as I continued to ask him about how much this must mean to all the kids he interacts with, he constantly brought up how much the kids mean to him, as well.

There are so many good people in baseball. But there are few like McKenzie.

“I think being able to be personable with them and make them feel like I’m almost one of their friends -- or like a mentor that’s not a teacher or someone that’s standing over them,” McKenzie said. “Almost like the fun uncle, I’m trying to be that guy.”