Triston McKenzie could very well be in the middle of the best month of his career after last night's performance against the Tigers.
Last night was a career appearance for Guardians pitcher, Triston McKenzie. This performance is his third one in the month of July and he is showing why this is the best month of his career.
McKenzie's first start of the month came back on July 3 against the New York Yankees at Progressive Feild. The Yankees have hit the most home runs out of any Major League team, but Triston shut them down. He had seven strikeouts, one walk, and one hit, in seven innings of work.
This stat line would be impressive against any team. But, it is even more spectacular with the Yankees being a World Series favorite.
McKenzie's second start came in Kansas City. He pitched six innings and gave up three hits and struck out five.
That takes us up to last night, which was one of McKenzie's best start of his life. (Outside of his near-perfect game from last year.) He struck a career-high 12 batters in eight innings of work. This came after a night when the bullpen had to go eight full innings because Aaron Civale left the game after the first.
The fact he hasn't given up a run in July is what makes this McKenzie's best month of his career. Watch Josh Naylor's reaction to finding this out. Trust me, it's worth it and will make you laugh!
When talking about his performance against the Tigers, Tito added that " there was the intent. Fastball had good life, really good breaking ball."
The last three starts have really shown the growth of McKenzie as a big league pitcher. At the end of June, he was roughed up pretty good in two consecutive starts against the Twins. He gave up a combined 17 hits and 13 runs. McKenzie bounced back strong in a position where he could have easily got down on himself.
The Guardians are still the youngest team in baseball and Triston is no exception being only 24. But this age should make fans feel even more excited that the month of July is something McKenzie can replicate many more times in a Guardians jersey.
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