'I'm not doing my job': Walks hurt McKenzie

Through the first three innings of Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie’s outing on Saturday night, it seemed like he was taking another step forward in his progression. But the fourth frame proved he’s not over the hump just yet.

McKenzie held the Mariners to just one run through the first three innings, but he ended his evening allowing five runs on five hits -- two of them homers -- with three walks and six strikeouts in 4 1/3 frames in Cleveland's 7-3 loss at T-Mobile Park. It marked the first time Cleveland suffered consecutive losses in three weeks, when the team had a four-game losing skid from April 20-24.

“The walks hurt him again,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “So, when they do some damage, or he gives up a big hit, it's multiple runs just because of the walks. So, we've gotta try to clean that up. But I'd say he's a little inconsistent, that's probably the best way to put it.”

Inconsistency is the only way to describe McKenzie’s 2021 season thus far. Two starts ago against the White Sox, he had six strikeouts in two innings, but he also gave up five runs and walked four. Last time out, he made strides, tossing five scoreless innings against the Royals. It looked like that momentum was continuing when his breaking pitches looked sharp and his fastball velocity sat in the 93-94 mph range through the first few frames against the Mariners -- then he ran into a three-run, two-walk, 31-pitch fourth.

“I feel like I’m not necessarily doing my job,” McKenzie said. “Or, I’m doing a disservice to my teammates. I feel like I’m showing flashes of putting together good starts, and then I’m letting them down and walking guys and putting myself in bad positions to where I feel like I should keep the game a lot closer because the bats have been coming around. We hit some balls really hard tonight and stuff didn’t go our way.”

With the Indians down 1-0, the righty issued consecutive free passes to start the fourth inning, bringing his walk total to 25 in 28 innings. That’s the most by a Cleveland pitcher in his first seven appearances of a season since Ubaldo Jiménez and Justin Masterson each had more than 25 walks in 2012, but Jiménez (30 walks) had thrown 40 innings in that span, while Masterson (25) had thrown 42 1/3 innings. Before his three walks on Saturday, McKenzie already boasted the highest walk rate in the Majors (8.4 walks per nine) of all pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings.

Another concern that’s been consistent all year is that McKenzie’s average fastball velocity dips as his outings go on. A prospect that was expected to throw as hard as 95 mph has struggled to crack 92 mph all year. Although his velocity spiked back up in the early innings, the heater fell back into the 91-92 mph range once again in the fourth. But this isn’t a surprise. Here’s a look at his average fastball velocities by inning over his first five starts, entering Sunday, according to Statcast:

First inning: 91.6 mph
Second inning: 91.2 mph
Third inning: 90.7 mph
Fourth inning: 90.4 mph
Fifth inning: 91.0 mph
Sixth inning: 89.6 mph

“I feel like at the end of the day, if you execute your pitches, whether it’s 69 [mph] or whether it’s 105 [mph], guys won’t hit the ball,” McKenzie said, unfazed by his velocity dip. “I feel like that’s very evident when you see the plays happen.”

Both McKenzie's command and velocity with his fastball have been inconsistent all year. But the one constant was the success with his slider, which was erased on Saturday. Through his first six appearances, McKenzie's 67 sliders induced a .000 batting average with a 60.9 whiff percentage. However, the Mariners were able to knock two of his sliders that hung over the heart of the plate over the fence.

The first six weeks of the season haven’t been easy for McKenzie, who entered the year with just 33 1/3 innings of experience under his belt. Now, the question is whether he will be able to figure out how to adapt and make adjustments on the fly at the Major League level to get himself back on the right track.

“I think in all fairness, he hadn't pitched a lot for a couple years,” Francona said. “And last year was certainly a different year for a lot of reasons. But he comes up and joins us, and, so, I mean, I think the more we can keep him out there and get him repetition, it's certainly going to help him.”