Padres' pitching project still needs work after 2026 minor league debut flubbed

Heading into the 2026 season, the San Diego Padres were hopeful that Triston McKenzie would make significant improvements. The 28-year-old right-handed pitcher had spent the last decade within the Cleveland Guardian's organization, but had seen a steady decline over the past three years. This included walking 31 batters across 21.1 innings in the minor leagues in 2025, as well as seven batters in 5.2 frames with the Guardians.

However, the Friars saw an opportunity to sign and work with the 6-foot-5 McKenzie, who throws his fastball more than most starters. Under pitching coach Ruben Niebla's tutelage, McKenzie added a sinker to arsenal, signaling that he could be MLB ready by the start of the season if there was a sign of progress. Niebla is a pitching guru, and his next project was going to be McKenzie.

Instead of things going according to plan, McKenzie was assigned to Triple-A El Paso after issuing nine walks in 6.1 spring training innings. For a Padres team that is relying heavily on the back-end of the rotation to be successful, this was an initial bad sign for McKenzie and the San Diego staff. In his 2026 debut with Triple-A El Paso, things got even worse for McKenzie.

At this point, no one knows when he will be ready for a promotion to Petco Park.

Padres' Triston McKenzie continued to struggle in first 2026 outing with El Paso

McKenzie lasted two innings as El Paso's starter on March 28. He struck out three batters, walked four, allowed one hit, and gave up two runs. All four walks were issued in the first inning by McKenzie. He totaled 44 pitches, but only 19 landed for strikes. For the mathematicians at home, that is 43.1 strike rate. Not good.

The one hit he gave up was against the Giants' No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge, who is also running into consistency problems during his development.

We won't completely overreact and say that McKenzie is a lost cause. But, he is in his prime years and is only showing rapid decline. There was the thought that with a new organization, he would reinvent himself or rediscover what made him a top prospect. Unfortunately, he has fallen short at both spring training and during his minor league debut this season. Hopefully he sees an improvement in is next outing.