In Triston McKenzie's latest start, the 25-year-old notched a career-high 14 strikeouts. He mowed down the Chicago White Sox in the seven innings he pitched, allowing six hits and just two earned runs, both of which came in the first inning of a Cleveland Guardians win.

McKenzie is pitching for more than just a Guardians playoff berth. He is pitching for a new Rolex, which will come courtesy of Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman if he keeps dominating.

Stroman bet McKenzie in January that if he pitched at least 160 innings with an ERA of 3.7 or lower, he would buy him a Rolex. With the season winding down soon and the Guardians youngster on his way to landing a new luxury watch, Stroman said that he has been keeping a close eye on him all season but that he would be more than happy to lose the friendly wager. “Love seeing my man have an amazing year!” he said on Twitter.

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Yankees' Juan Soto on left, Yankees' Aaron Judge on right. MLB World Series Trophy in middle. Yankee Stadium background.

Joey Mistretta ·

So far, Triston McKenzie is well on pace to securing some new wristwear. The Guardians' young ace has a 3.11 ERA in 141.2 innings this season to go along with 138 strikeouts. Hitters are posting an OPS of .627 and walking in just 6.4 percent of plate appearances against him this season. All the lanky hurler has to do is make a few more starts and keep up his tremendous performance to collect his new watch from Stroman.

McKenzie and Jose Ramirez have been two of the key components to the Guardians' successful 2022 season, along with Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan, Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Shane Bieber and Amed Rosario. They have a one-game lead in the AL Central over the Minnesota Twins. It will be a close race to the finish but Cleveland has the talent to win out.