CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cal Quantrill isn’t quite certain whether his next appearance for the Cleveland Indians will be as a starter or a reliever. Triston McKenzie doesn’t know if his next start will be in Cleveland or Triple-A Columbus.
But both young pitchers gave Indians manager Terry Francona and his coaches something to think about with their outings during both ends of a doubleheader split Monday against the White Sox.
Quantrill made his case for a return engagement in the starting rotation whenever Francona needs him next. On a 55-pitch limit, Quantrill got through 3 2/3 innings on 60 pitches, striking out five and not allowing a walk.
In six career appearances (two starts) against the White Sox, Quantrill has a 1.26 ERA, his lowest against any single opponent. It was his first start since Sept. 27 after 17 appearances out of the bullpen to open this season.
Quantrill said he approached the start like it was an appearance out of the pen, shortening his warmup because the reliever routine has “clearly worked better” for him.
“I don’t think it was anything special,” Quantrill said. “Just what was working, so keep working with it.”
But starting did give Quantrill and catcher Austin Hedges a chance to use more of his pitch arsenal to attack Chicago hitters.
“We went deeper into the bucket,” Quantrill said. “We definitely threw more offspeed pitches than I have in the past maybe 2-3 weeks. But I don’t think we tried anything that I hadn’t been doing for maybe the last 4-5 appearances, just maybe a little more frequently.”
Francona liked what he saw out of Quantrill, admitting that he wants to get the right-hander stretched out to start, but does not want to risk injury by doing so too quickly.
“He treated it just like he’s been in the bullpen,” Francona said. “He didn’t warm up long. I think he threw 14 pitches. And he threw the ball like he’s been throwing it out of the pen, which I think is really good.”
But Quantrill says he did not view Monday’s outing as an audition for a starting role. He said whatever route the Indians decide to go is fine with him.
“It’s important to remember that starting, relieving, whatever, you’ve got to get through the innings that they give you,” Quantrill said. “I don’t think this was some sort of statement or anything like that. It was we needed a starter to go today and I was prepared to do it.”
McKenzie, on the other hand, knows he’s going to be starting the next time he takes the mound. The question is: Where? Whether he makes another start for the Indians or makes his Triple-A debut for the Clippers, McKenzie showed in 5 2/3 innings Monday that when he commands the strike zone, he can challenge even the most potent of major league lineups.
McKenzie established a new franchise record with eight consecutive strikeouts from late in the third inning through the top of the sixth in an 8-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
He bested the mark of seven set by Corey Kluber against Chicago on May 4, 2014. It was the most consecutive strikeouts for an American League starting pitcher since Doug Fister of the Tigers fanned nine straight on Sept. 27, 2012 against the Royals. His 10 total strikeouts tied a career high from his major league debut on Aug. 22, 2020 against the Tigers.
Added to the roster as the 27th player for the doubleheader, McKenzie knew that he’d be heading back to the minors after Monday’s start regardless of how he pitched. But nobody expected the level of consistency and command that the 23-year-old righty displayed for the better part of three innings.
The four runs he gave up in the second inning were more along the lines of what McKenzie’s season had looked like up until that point. But a solid five scoreless innings against Detroit last week in an emergency start helped set up Monday’s outing. Could the imminent threat of a trip to Columbus be the solution to McKenzie’s problems?
Francona said afterward that McKenzie looked good, except for some struggles in the four-run second inning, where he wasn’t helped much by some shaky Indians defense. But unlike previous starts, McKenzie was able to recover and stay consistent after allowing Chicago to take the lead.
“What we’re seeing is when he does have a walk, he doesn’t turn it into two or three,” Francona said. “He’s gathering himself and he’s coming back and using his best stuff. That’s a big step for him.”
McKenzie said the difference was not thinking ahead of himself after issuing a walk or surrendering a hit Monday.
“I didn’t necessarily get ahead of myself and start thinking about the next batter or the runners on base,” McKenzie said. “It was still a close game and we have a chance and win and going out there and trying to dominate those guys.”
McKenzie said his last two outings are more representative of what he’d like to be able to do consistently as a regular part of the rotation. He tossed five scoreless innings at Detroit, limiting the Tigers to one hit and three walks while striking out five.
“The past two starts have been more of an indication of who I would like to be as a pitcher in terms of how I attack hitters and how I can actually get outs from the first inning to the fifth inning to hopefully the ninth,” McKenzie said “I hopefully will just continue going in this direction.”
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