The Cleveland Guardians are sitting at 47-45 and just 1.0 game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and the strongest part of their season has been the pitching staff. Parker Messick has been the headline arm, and ESPN analyst Bradford Doolittle even labeled him the “First-half MVP.”
But Doolittle didn’t stop there. He also pointed to a different group as Cleveland’s true driving force, saying the Guardians’ bullpen has been carrying the load in the biggest spots.
“First-half MVP: Parker Messick (126 AXE). Messick has been fantastic,” Doolittle writes.
"... Still, the real MVP in Cleveland has been the high-leverage contingent of its bullpen, led by Cade Smith, Colin Holderman, and Erik Sabrowski."
Messick’s numbers back up the praise. He has a 2.80 ERA, a 7-5 record, and 3.2 bWAR across 18 starts.
He’s struck out 109 batters in 106 innings, and by bWAR, nobody else on the roster is really close. José Ramírez is next at 2.5, with Bryan Rocchio not far behind at 2.3.
The relievers Doolittle highlighted have each done their part. Smith, Cleveland’s closer, has a 2.90 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 26 saves, three blown saves, and 0.8 bWAR in 40.1 innings.
Holderman has posted a 1.95 ERA with 38 strikeouts, no saves, and 1.1 bWAR over 32.1 innings. Sabrowski has a 3.33 ERA, 48 strikeouts, no saves, and 0.5 bWAR in 27 innings.
Still, even with those three bullpen arms combined, the total comes out to 2.4 bWAR, which still trails Messick’s 3.2 on his own. Doolittle’s point is clear enough: the bullpen has been central to Cleveland’s success, but Messick has been the most valuable player on the roster by the numbers.
In Other News...
Guardians Just Lost A Pitching Safety Net They Could Not Spare
The Guardians have spent the season leaning on remarkable rotation continuity, sticking with the same five starters all year and getting steady results from a group that has carried a 3.80 ERA. For a club trying to keep its pitching plan intact, that kind of stability matters, especially when the organization is counting on the pipeline to keep feeding the big league staff.
Chris Antonettis announcement on Khal Stephen cuts directly into that depth. The pitching prospects surgery removes one of the more important fallback options the Guardians had stocked away, leaving Logan Allen, Austin Peterson and Yorman Gmez as the names most likely to be asked to help next if the major league staff needs reinforcements. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Finally Have An Internal Answer For Their Biggest Problem
Power has been the missing ingredient for Cleveland all season, with the club sitting near the bottom of the majors in home runs and still weighing whether the answer has to come from outside the organization. If the Guardians decide to shop for help, though, there are at least a couple of internal names worth tracking, and analyst Jensen Lewis pointed to two prospects who could eventually change the conversation.
Jace LaViolette, the former Texas A&M first-round pick, has been producing in High-A, even if the strikeouts remain part of the package. Ralphy Velazquez is the other bat drawing attention, and his path looks a little longer as he settles into Triple-A, with a realistic arrival window that points more toward 2027 than next season. [Read more 🡒]
Triston McKenzies Comeback Just Hit Another Painful Turn
Triston McKenzies path back to relevance has taken another rough detour, with the right-hander now looking for his next stop after a difficult stretch in the Padres organization. Once one of Clevelands most intriguing young arms, McKenzie had built real momentum with his breakout 2022 season before an arm injury in 2023 changed the trajectory of his career and sent him into a long fight to regain his form.
The latest setback came after a brutal run at Triple-A El Paso, where the command issues that have followed him for months never really let up. For a pitcher whose appeal has always started with feel and strike-throwing, the numbers told a harsh story, and now free agency gives him another reset point even as the unanswered question around his comeback remains the one that matters most. [Read more 🡒]