Triston McKenzie can help managers for stretch run
Chris Crawford dives into Cleveland Guardians SP Triston McKenzie's first half and details why the 24-year-old can should be rostered in most fantasy formats.
Video Transcript
CHRIS CRAWFORD: Triston McKenzie has tantalized fantasy players with strong outings that have often been followed by duds, with the word often being subjective considering his 24 years old. Beginning has been good as of late however, and good is underselling it by a considerable margin. Over his last three starts, McKenzie hasn't allowed a run. He's given up just nine hits, and he's registered a strong 23 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio in his 21 innings. It's worth mentioning that two of those starts came against the Royals and Tigers, but that also includes seven scoreless innings against the Yankees.
So it's not just taking advantage of weak opponents. It's also worth pointing out that he gave up 13 runs in his previous two starts. So what gives? A look at the metrics provide both hope and a little bit of despair. He's one of the worst in baseball on average exit velocity and avoiding batters.
He's also well above average in avoiding walks, expected batting average, and strikeout percentage. Weird huh. Ultimately these numbers tell you that McKenzie offers volatility, but he's passed the eye test as of late, and he should be rostered by those who need help with pitching in the second half.
