McKenzie (elbow) has yet to resume throwing off a mound but had increased his throwing distance off flat ground to 105 feet as of Thursday, MLB.com reports.
McKenzie appears to be only slightly behind Shane Bieber in their respective recoveries from elbow injuries, as Bieber has stretched out his throwing distance to 120 feet. Both pitchers are tracking toward returns from the 60-day injured list at some point in September, but any setback along the way would put McKenzie at risk of being shuttered for the remainder of the season. McKenzie is in the midst of his second IL stint of the season after he opened the campaign on the shelf while recovering from a right teres major muscle strain suffered late in spring training.