Triston McKenzie - Scouting Report


Rank History
Year Team Position Team Rank OFP
2021 CLE RHP 4 50

Grades Update: Nov 2020
OFP Role FB CB SL CH Ctr/Cmd
50 50 55 60 50 45 60/55

Nov 2020 Report

Evaluator: Justin Lada

Age: 23 yr
Height: 6-5
Weight: 170 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2015 Draft - Round CBA
RuleV: On 40-man

Physical Description: Lanky, slender build. Undersized lower half, but better built upper half. Has struggled to add to frame and has plenty of room to add, but getting late in his projection for that to come around. Very large wingspan. Concern about frame holding up over long stretches of innings. Missed half of 2018 with a forearm issue and all of 2019 with a back/lat issue. Student of the game, extremely coachable. Excellent makeup.

Delivery & Mechanics: Long, chest-high leg kick. Excellent balance, pelvic stack. Keeps weight centered. Great torso/shoulder separation. Gets excellent extension with landing leg and keeps his arm back after his shoulders are square to the plate. Athletic and repeats delivery consistently. Stays on the rubber and gets good drive with back leg. Deceptive delivery due to arm swing. Wingspan and extension on front leg allow him to release the ball much closer to the plate to give him better perceived velocity.

Fastball: Runs 92-95 and can hit 97. Plays up beyond velo because of wingspan and release to increase perceived velocity. Some arm side run. Above-average command with it. Gets swings and misses with it inside of the zone. Does not have plus spin. Occasionally he will struggle to maintain velocity later into his outings, or game to game He has seen his fastball dip consistently down to 89-91 in outings overall, but it remains a good pitch. Grade: 55

Curveball: Works 79-81 with 11-5 shape. Does not feature plus spin but release point and break make it an effective pitch when combined with above average command of the pitch. Grade: 60

Slider: New pitch for him in 2020. Also features below-average spin. Works 85-86 and has good late, sharp break. Mirrors his fastball well and throws it from a close release point. Inconsistent throwing it for strikes. More of a chase pitch for him right not to get hitters to expand their zone with two strikes but flashes above-average overall with fringe-average command Grade: 50

Changeup: 85-87 with below-average vertical and horizontal break. Backs up like a two-seamer at times, flashing average fade. Effective offering against left-handers with fringe-average command Grade: 45

Control and Command: Hits the glove with fastball and able to command secondary offerings with above-average ability. Can hit all corners of the strike zone with the fastball and curveball. Aggressive in the zone and works ahead. Control: 60 | Command: 55

Overall: Starters arsenal with two plus pitches and two average to fringe-average offerings and overall above-average command. Athleticism, clean delivery makes it easy to repeat. Stuff, command, mechanics, pitchability and makeup give him all the makings of a mid-rotation upside arm. Undersized build, recent injury history and drops in velocity give concern about holding up as a starter. Build is somewhat similar to Carl Edwards Jr. The durability concerns and peaks and valley's in his velo make it hard to project that he can be a consistent rotation member, even though he has the talent. I'd also question his body holding up pitching on back to back days out of the bullpen until we see more consistent durability. MId-rotation/high leverage talent is extremely apparent in pure stuff/command, but the body and track record of durability are too big of red flags to say that with any certainty.

OFP: 50
Role: 50 - #4 or #5 SP / High Leverage Reliever
Risk: High