Covering the Corner Conversation with Triston McKenzie

Cleveland starting pitcher Triston McKenzie speaks to Covering The Corner about giving back, overcoming mental hurdles, his friendship with Donovan Mitchell and more

Normally, I reserve my interviews for Cleveland minor league baseball prospects, but when a representative from Miller Lite reached out to me recently about an opportunity to speak with current Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie about a partnership he made with the company, I couldn’t turn it down.

Miller Lite is working with Ohio athletes Sam Hubbard (Bengals), Aidan Morris (Crew) and McKenzie to find Ohioans who were brewed for the big leagues with the skills to join their team.

Fans who think you have what it takes are encouraged to upload a photo or video showing their Ohio sports or Miller Lite pride with why they should be selected and tag @MillerLite with #ProudlyBrewedinOhio. Fans might get called up to try out in person in front of some of Ohio’s star athletes to prove it. Tryouts include:

1. Cincinnati fans running a 96 yard touchdown return at Paycor Stadium .
2. Cleveland fans hitting a 96 mph fastball at Progressive Field.
3. Columbus fans stopping a penalty kick in 96 seconds or less at Lower.com Field.

Those who impress at the tryouts will become honorary players receiving a rookie salary, personalized swag and bragging rights that they made the team.

I spoke with McKenzie seven years ago when he was a member of the Lynchburg Hillcats in Cleveland’s minor league system, but he’s come a long way since then. The former first round competitive balance pick made his pro debut in 2020 and had his breakout season in 2022, sporting a 2.96 ERA over 30 starts and pitching well for the Guardians in their playoff run.

McKenzie dealt with a partial ligament tear in 2023, which limited him to just four starts, but he battled back and has improved in almost every outing in 2024. In our interview, McKenzie spoke about his initiative with Miller Lite, his work with disadvantaged youth and overcoming mental hurdles with injuries.

Brian Hemminger: So let’s get started. How did this partnership with Miller Lite come about? It seems like they kind of picked one Ohio athlete from each sport.

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, I mean, Miller Lite’s a huge part of the Ohio community, especially it’s very prevalent in the ballpark. So I think, as a baseball player, and wanting to just be a part of what the fans are part of when they come to the ballpark, I thought it was just the right thing.

Brian Hemminger: And it seems like they’re choosing three different types of things that the they’re asking fans to accomplish to try out for this. I don’t know about you, but seems like trying to hit a 96 mile an hour fastball seems like the hardest one. What do you think?

Triston McKenzie: (laughs) Yeah, I agree with that.

Brian Hemminger: Now for the guys that actually make it through to the finals when they’re actually trying to to earn that that “rookie contract” and everything, they say the hardest thing out of any sport for any athlete to do is hit a Major League pitcher. I don’t know if it would interfere with your training or anything, but would you be willing to throw to any of these guys on that day?

Triston McKenzie: So I’m not going to be throwing the baseball per se. I’m gonna be there more of like a coaching capacity. So I can and be there, but we got a season going on, so I gotta make sure I’m on the field, and and healthy for that.

Brian Hemminger: I totally understand, because that would be super cool, but I also understand that you got your routine. Don’t wanna mess with your bullpen days and all that stuff. It would probably be too tough for them anyway.

Ok, change of topic, the other night when Brayan Rocchio hit the the walk off, you went out and just dumped sunflower seeds all over him. Do you have like a set plan on what you’re gonna be bringing out there on a post-game celebration? I’ve seen you do the the water during the post game interviews. Is it just like whatever you got around you at the moment?

Triston McKenzie: (laughs) I mean, it’s kinda spur of the moment. I think we got gum. We got seeds. We got water bottles. Gatorade. We got a ton of stuff in the in the dugout there. So just whatever’s whatever’s calling to me that day. Most of the time it’s water. But that time I felt like everybody else is bringing out water. I decide to bring some seeds and some gum and kinda just throw it in the air. I was gonna put the the tub of gum on his head, but I thought it was gonna cover his face. So I figured I’d relax.

Brian Hemminger: You gotta be nice because he’s got that post-game interview coming up, right?

Triston McKenzie: (laughs) Exactly, exactly.

Brian Hemminger: Now a little before the season when MLB The Show came out, you threw down the gauntlet calling on all challengers. Are there any teammates that are currently your best competition?

Triston McKenzie: Oooh, so currently Josh Naylor has been playing a lot of MLB The Show. He’s a tough hitter to face. I assume he’s probably like that in real life. I haven’t faced him in real life, but facing him on the game is pretty tough.

Brian Hemminger: You’ve had some really cool back and forths a lot with some Cleveland athletes in other sports. Donovan Mitchell’s been one that really seems to be coming to mind. How did that come about? Have you actually got to hang out with him in person?

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, I mean, I met Donovan in person a couple of times. He’s a big baseball fan. So initially, when he first got to the city, they asked him about his athlete relationships, and who he knew. And I had met with him via Instagram and social media in a prior year, and when he came to the city we just kinda hit it off, and we’ve hung out a couple of times. I’ve been to a ton of Cavs games just trying to support those guys over there, and they’ve been to some Guardians games. So him Darius Garland, Evan Mobley. Some of those other guys have kind of swung over, so we built a relationship like that. It’s been really cool.

Brian Hemminger: And Evan Mobley is kind of built like you.

Triston McKenzie: (laughs) Yeah, I’ve gotten that.

Brian Hemminger: Have you had any kind of a similar relationship with any of the Browns players, too?

Triston McKenzie: Not particularly. I’ve been to a couple of the Browns games. The only Browns player that I would say I know personally would be like Myles Garrett. But that’s a big name to know.

Brian Hemminger: Yeah, that’s definitely a big one. Now. I think one of the things that is super cool is all the different work you do to help kids whether it’s they’re during the season in the offseason. You’ve been doing a youth baseball camp for like seven years. Can you share a little bit about starting that? I saw you’re getting all kinds of other MLB players to come and hang out with the kids too.

Triston McKenzie: Yeah. So I initially started the camp when I was in the minor leagues. But just as a way for me to get back to my community for me to be seen as like a figure in my community, but just to be able to get back not only in the capacity of baseball. I do a food drive, so I have all the campers bring in food so that I can give back to my grandmother’s church, and there’s a food pantry that helps underprivileged people.

And then on top of that, I think just being able to spread the joy of baseball and have the kids come out for a day of fun, a day of learning, and to have good instruction from guys that I grew up playing with, or even just baseball players that want to come and just see kids get better and enjoy the game.

Brian Hemminger: And you’ve been doing the True to You mentorship classes with eighth graders, too. Is that Zoom calls? What do you do with those?

Triston McKenzie: It’s a mix of Zoom and when I’m up in Cleveland, being able to be there in person. Actually, my class is gonna graduate this year on the 24th. We’re gonna be on the road, but I’m gonna try and wish them wish them well.

But I think being able to to interact with those kids in what I deem is a a pretty turbulent time in your life when you’re trying to really figure out what you wanna do with your future, there’s a there’s a lot of new, changing things. You’re really growing up in that and you’re gonna have to take some ownership.

So being able to just talk to them about decision making, being able to talk to them about not necessarily having it all figured out, but figuring out a way to to figure out that plan and just making them feel comfortable with the transition into high school has been big for me and just interacting with those kids on that level has been cool.

Brian Hemminger: And I also see you’re a representative with the Boys and Girls Clubs in Northeast Ohio too, right? Like they get to come out in the dugout and hang out with you?

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think, being able to to humanize myself. I think a lot of times kids see me as this baseball player that you only see on TV and I’m this superstar. But at the end of the day I believe that I’m just a regular guy, so being able to interact with them on a more personal level, have them come out to the games, whether that be to watch fireworks or being able to go to the Boys and Girls Club and read to them, or just talk to them has been good in terms of just building relationships with them, and just helping them with goal setting and stuff like that.

Brian Hemminger: It seems like you’re trying to compete with Carlos Carrasco on giving back. Who’s giving back the most right now?

Triston McKenzie: (laughs) I mean he was a Roberto Clemente Award winner. So that goes to show what he does in the community.

Brian Hemminger: Now, I got a couple of boring baseball questions.

Triston McKenzie: But baseball isn’t boring. I got a sticker on my phone. (holds up phone to the camera). I got a sticker on my phone that says it.

Brian Hemminger: Oh, that’s awesome. I meant it’s more just because you’re always getting asked about baseball.

It seems like strikeouts have really upticked for you in your last couple of starts after those first three, where it was like 1, 2 and 2. Was there something different where you’re just kind of hitting your spots better? What’s kind of helped you get back to the next level in terms of a missing bats in your last four starts?

Triston McKenzie: I think, being able to to make guys swing the bat early on the counts. I think my first couple of starts, I wasn’t necessarily in the zone as much as I’d like to be, so guys were a little bit more passive at the plate. I think in my last couple of starts, I’ve been a little more aggressive in the zone and it’s forced the the hitters to swing the bat more and that does lead into more swings and misses.

Brian Hemminger: It’s probably gotta feel good knowing that you’re starting to get deeper into games, especially with how much the bullpen’s been getting used this season.

Triston McKenzie: 100% I mean getting deep in the getting deep into the game is something that I think all the starters wanna do. But I think when you see how well our bullpen’s been doing, especially with how often they’ve been being used, being able to kind of give those guys a breather, especially coming here into the meat of the season, has been good.

Brian Hemminger: Something I noticed was, it seemed like in the beginning of the season, you know, people kept talking, “Oh, fastball velocity’s down.” And then I observed that your slider velocity about the exact same (as before). It seems you’ve started to gain that separation again and and it started to tick back up. Is there something where you’ve made an adjustment?

Triston McKenzie: I mean, I wouldn’t say there was any one specific adjustment. I think it was just being able to to throw with conviction across the middle of the plate. I think I was kind of biting around the edges early on, but being able to throw it down the middle of the plate and almost forcing guys to put the ball and play has been huge for for what I think my ve-lo has been at.

Brian Hemminger: And then I think, after last year, where you had the injury, and you did all that work to get back. Knowing that you’re throwing without pain is such a mental hurdle to to get over. Is that something that was difficult to overcome, to get that trust back and be willing to just unleash it at your your full capacity.

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think there’s a mental hurdle of of not being in competition almost all of last year and almost feeling like I was easing my way back in when, as a competitor, that’s not what you want. You wanna go out there and be 100%. But I think there’s parts of yourself that kind of hold back just to make sure. “Am I okay? Am I gonna be able to go 6 innings? Am I gonna be able to go 7 innings?” When in all actuality, all I’ve been trying to worry about in my last couple of starts is being able to go out there and throw every pitch with conviction.

Brian Hemminger: How do you tell, or how quick do you know if like your curveball feels good that day, or your slider’s good that day? Because, I’ve noticed depending on your start, you’re gonna be use utilizing different pitches more often than others.

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, I mean, I think most of the time that’s a conversation that we have before the game in terms of what the game plan is going in, how we’re gonna attack hitters. But then I think everything really settles in once the catcher catches me in the bullpen and we can kinda utilize, “Alright, the curveball looks good today. We’re gonna probably use that a little bit more than we use the slider,” or “The fastball looks good today, we’re gonna get ahead of guys with that and then kinda work off of that.”

Brian Hemminger: Last thing, do you still keep those initials SSA on your hat anywhere? I know that you did that in the minors in memory of your cousin.

Triston McKenzie: Yeah. So MLB actually told me I wasn’t allowed to put anything on the outside of my hat. I still kiss it off to her and I write on the inside, but I’m not able to have it on the outside, like I used to.

Brian Hemminger: Any shoutouts?

Triston McKenzie: Yeah, shout out my brother (TJ). He’s starting to to heat up down there at Georgia Southern, and I want to say, shout out to my mom. Mother’s Day is coming up so happy Mother’s Day.

You can follow McKenzie on Twitter @T_easy24.