McKenzie (shoulder) is scheduled to make the second start of his rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Columbus, Joe Noga of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Thursday's outing could be the last of McKenzie's rehab assignment after he looked sharp in his 2023 debut with Columbus this past Saturday, when he covered three scoreless innings (52 pitches) and struck out four while allowing only three baserunners. If McKenzie can push his workload up to the 70-to-80 range Thursday, the Guardians would likely be comfortable with bringing him back from the 60-day injured list as soon next Tuesday. Aaron Civale (oblique) also looks like he'll be ready to return from the 15-day IL within the next week, so unless Cleveland expands the rotation to six men, two of Hunter Gaddis, Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee could end up losing out on starting roles.