Coming off one of his best stretches as a professional, the Cleveland Indians announced on Wednesday that right-handed pitcher Triston McKenzie was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to August 22nd. He will not be able to be taken off the list until September 1st. In response to the move, the team recalled left-hander Logan Allen from Triple-A Columbus.
Indians team president Chris Antonetti talked about the move to reporters earlier, saying, "We just felt that his recovery was a little bit slower after his last start than it typically is. He feels good overall... We thought it made sense for a lot of reasons to give him some time. We expect it to be a relatively short time on the injured list."
While McKenzie has had his ups and downs this season, the 24-year-old starting pitcher really hit his stride in the month of August. He finishes the month with a 2-1 record, 1.93 ERA, 28 strikeouts, and just two walks, a far cry from his 21 in May.
"The way he's attacked the zone has improved over the course of the second half of the season," Antonetti told reporters when asked what has stood out about McKenzie's improvements. "The way he's utilized his pitches, sequencing, all of that has improved. But overall, I'd say that his mindset and aggressiveness probably stand out the most."
For McKenzie, fans will have to trust that he will be able to continue his great stretch of pitching into September, and hopefully, into 2022.