Credit: AP Photo
Triston McKenzie and the San Diego Padres agreed to terms this week on a minor league deal.
In what has been a heavily rumored offseason, the San Diego Padres have made a small move, inking former Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie to a minor league deal.
The Brooklyn-born pitcher is 28 years old and has a history with Padres associate manager/pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
Niebla served as the assistant pitching coach for Cleveland in McKenzie’s first two major league seasons and likely worked with him before that as minor league pitching coordinator. Under Niebla’s system, McKenzie was a consensus top 100 prospect.
McKenzie’s major league experience has seen him be a league-average pitcher with a career 4.07 ERA and a 99 ERA+ in parts of six seasons with the Guardians. His best season came in 2022, when he threw at a 2.96 clip over 191.1 innings pitched and accumulated a 3.9 WAR season.
His 2023Â saw a downturn in his numbers as he dealt with an arm and an elbow injury. He has not been the same since.
The new Padre minor leaguer is a three-pitch pitcher. He has had success with both his slider and curveball in the past, along with a fastball that sat at 93.7 mph in his short stint in the majors in 2025.
What is not clear as of now is whether McKenzie will be brought in to be stretched out as a starter again or if he will be used as a reliever.
His limited arsenal could work well out of the bullpen since he uses his tall physique to throw from a very high slot that helps his breaking pitches. However, one could see Niebla looking to reconnect with his former prospect to help develop him more than he did previously.
A fourth pitch would be vital for him to learn, and he would need to work on his fastball, which has not been a quality pitch for him the last few years. Niebla does have experience with limited arsenals, as he has worked with Dylan Cease and Blake Snell in the past, who were equipped with the same repertoire.
The Padres are trying to build up their pitching depth.
McKenzie presents the unique opportunity of giving the option to be a starter, a reliever, or even a long man for the Padres. McKenzie has been playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Aguilas Cibaeñas, where he has thrown for a 5.40 ERA. He still shows to have strikeout stuff with 11.6 strikeouts per 9 innings.
