AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 14, 2022

Triston McKenzie

Yankee Stadium

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. What did you do the last two days? Did you go stir crazy?

TRISTON McKENZIE: No, they gave us the opportunity to come to the field. I came in, moved around a little bit. Got to throw. Tried to stay as locked in as possible. It's kind of weird with the rainout and off-day. Just staying locked in and everyone is trying to stay in the same mindset. Coming into today, we are still locked in and we're ready to win.

Q. Just curious, being born here in New York, growing up in Florida, where were your rooting interests as a kid?

TRISTON McKENZIE: So I mean growing up in Florida -- I think I'm a Florida boy at heart, but I grew up in -- I probably shouldn't even say it. I grew up a big fan of the Captain and kind of everything about New York in terms of I have a lot of family up here and how easy it is to interact with so many different people. And then growing up in Florida, I think baseball is just what I love.

Q. Considering all that, what's your thoughts on pitching against the Yankees in a playoff series?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I'm out there to win. Doesn't matter who is across the field.

Q. Doesn't make it any more special that it's the Yankees?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I think I'll be able to brag to some of my family members a little bit more, which will be nice, but no (smiling).

Q. I know the midges have been back in Cleveland. Have you had any experience with those?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I was at the Browns game on Sunday after the Wild Card series and they were out in full force and it was the middle of the day. So I can only imagine when we get back. It's something you can't get around. You just have to steel yourself and pitch through it.

Q. When you say they were out in full force, what was that like? What kind of challenge is it?

TRISTON McKENZIE: It's like a swarm of mosquitos, but when you try to swat them away, they don't care and they will land on you anyway. I don't even know how to explain it. That's the best way to explain it. They will land on you. You can kill them and they will just stay there.

Q. Have you talked to anyone about theoretically if they are around, how to deal with them?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I really don't think there's a way to deal with them. I think you just have to pitch through it.

Q. What makes Cleveland so effective in player development? It's been a couple decades now, just one guy after another comes through the system and succeeds, pitchers and position players. What makes them so effective and successful?

TRISTON McKENZIE: From personal experience, I would say culture. I think from top to bottom, especially even when I got drafted, on this team there's guys I got drafted with and came through the minor leagues with. There's a sense of camaraderie all the way from the bottom to the top, and I think it just aids to guys feeling like a team and moving up together. Whereas I feel like a lot of times when you're in the minor leagues, guys can get caught up in being self-absorbed or only worrying about your career. We do a good job of building a team.

Q. Having faced the Yankees in the playoffs a couple years ago, was there anything about that experience that proved a learning lesson going into this postseason, or was it such a unique circumstance that you couldn't really draw much from it?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I think 2020 was kind of weird in that aspect. And I think my outing against them was out of the pen and it was a little shorter. So that for me in itself was a little different.

I think coming into this series, it's more just -- I was trying to figure out that this was a good team and how to navigate the lineup.

Q. Having faced these guys in July, how much do you draw off that. Do you try to repeat it, or do you try to treat it as just completely different since it's a different setting?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I mean, it's definitely a different setting, and there's going to be new rigors and new challenges, especially with a lineup that we haven't seen in a couple months here. But we'll take what we learned in July and use it today, tomorrow.

Q. What did you do this year to cut down on your walks so effectively?

TRISTON McKENZIE: I think attacking the strike zone early. I think a lot of the times in years prior, so 2021 and 2020, I would try to be perfect on the edges early in the counts, and I would find myself behind a lot, and then trying to work from behind.

This year my goal and my focus was to get ahead of guys and force them to put the ball in play. Keep my pitch count down and let the guys work behind me. And I think it's just allowed me to have consistency through my starts and cut down on the walks. FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...