Two pitchers in Cleveland Indians history have debuted with 10-or-more strikeouts. Luis Tiant and his career 54.8 fWAR over a brilliant 18-year career did so when he debuted in 1964, and 23-year-old Triston McKenzie did it tonight.
Fulfilling a prophecy put foreseen by Todd Isaacs Jr., McKenzie struck out 10 Tigers batters in his debut tonight and looked worth every bit of his hype in the process. The big right-hander had a couple mistake pitches, which you’d expect from a debut, but he also showed off a higher velocity than ever before and a changeup and slider that no one outside of East Lake, Ohio could be sure that he had.