For the first month of the season, six starts, Triston McKenzie looked like the staff ace. With Shane Bieber’s velocity flagging and results coming up less than expected, McKenzie seemed poise to pay off on his former top prospect status.
As of May 8, McKenzie had a 2.76 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 26.1 K%, 7.8 BB%, and 0.3 HR/9 with opponents hitting .206/.289/.314 against him. Those numbers comfortably put him among the best pitchers in baseball; however, since then he has regressed heavily. Unfortunately, there’s really no one to blame but McKenzie, either, and this is borne out by the stats, as his FIP and HR/9 have gone from 13th and 11th best among qualified starters, respectively, to 73rd, dead last.