How McKenzie is bouncing back from lost '23

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.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The scene was eerily familiar.

Triston McKenzie stepped into the bullpen in left field of Goodyear Ballpark to warm up before his outing on Monday. It was 351 days prior that he was last in that enclosed space. Flashbacks rushed into his head. It was there where he started to feel the tightness in his right triceps and upper back. What he hoped was just normal early-season aches soon spiraled into a disastrous 2023 season.

When he pitched the first inning of that game on March 26, 2023, McKenzie felt a weird sensation, so he alerted the coaching staff. He was pulled from the game and sent for an MRI. The next day, we learned that he strained his teres major muscle and would be out for up to eight weeks (which turned into almost the whole season, except for four starts).

This time, McKenzie didn’t need to be removed after one inning. He tossed three strong frames, recorded four strikeouts, allowed just one hit and permitted one walk.

“He was awesome,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “Outside of one 0-2 pitch, he didn’t execute that one and Teoscar [Hernández] got a base hit. “Other than that, he was absolutely electric.”

That’s a far cry from a man who spent last Spring Training preparing which warm up songs would be blasting on the PA system at Progressive Field during each month of the regular season, just to have 2023 taken from him. After recovering from the muscle strain, McKenzie returned for two starts before right elbow trouble ensued, sidelining him until the last week of the season. Now, he’s figuring out the balance of learning from a painful year while focusing on improving his game to be as elite as he was in ’22.

“I think health is paramount,” McKenzie said. “It’s at the top of the list. But at the same time, at the end of the day, we’re here to compete. We’re here to get outs. We’re here to get W's. Not only for myself, but the guys behind me and the guys in the dugout. So I think there’s a little bit of it, but at the end of the day we got to go out there and be myself and try and win.”

The Guardians didn’t want to rush McKenzie this spring, given everything he has gone through. He entered camp at full strength. He’s cruised through his work on the back fields. And he’s now made two starts in Cactus League action. The next step will finally be getting back on the Opening Day roster.

Until then, McKenzie has two weeks left to prepare. After his last outing, he pointed out areas to still improve before real games are underway. But like he’s shown plenty of times in the past, even if he’s off just a little bit, as long as he’s able to stay in the strike zone, he can be extremely effective.

“I think Spring Training’s all about building volume, being able to get ready for season, as well as fine [tuning] a lot of stuff,” McKenzie said. “I think being able to move down the mound, I felt a little iffy getting to what I consider my ideal game speed to be. Felt a little bit slow. But I was able to go out there and still able to use my stuff to the best ability and that’s what you have to do in season.”