Cleveland Guardians rookie Parker Messick is making this race interesting at the right time.
For much of the season, Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle has looked like the favorite for AL Rookie of the Year. That hasn’t changed just yet, but Messick has spent the last stretch cutting into the gap with a run that’s hard to ignore. In eight starts since the beginning of July, he has allowed two earned runs or fewer every time out and has posted a 1.88 ERA.
That kind of consistency is exactly why Messick has moved from a name to watch before the season to a legitimate threat in the award chase. Bradford Doolittle put it this way: “More so than McGonigle slumping, Messick has closed in because he has been consistently outstanding, making him McGonigle’s biggest threat in Rookie of the Year honors and putting the lefty on the fringe of Cy Young consideration. In eight starts since the beginning of July, Messick has given up two earned runs or fewer in all of them while posting a 1.88 ERA,” Bradford Doolittle wrote.
Messick’s overall numbers back up the surge. Through 26 starts, he is 10-8 with a 3.50 ERA, which ranks fifth among major league starters. He has worked 155.0 innings, allowing 116 hits and 41 walks while striking out 156.
The award history also adds some weight to what Messick is trying to do. Since 2016, when Michael Fulmer won AL Rookie of the Year for the Tigers, only one full-time pitcher has taken home the honor: Luis Gil of the New York Yankees in 2024. Shohei Ohtani won it in 2018 after pitching 10 games for the Los Angeles Angels.
For Cleveland, the list is even shorter. Herb Score is the only pitcher in franchise history to win Rookie of the Year, doing it in 1955.
McGonigle still holds the edge, and his numbers explain why. He is batting .283 with an .814 OPS, 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. He has stayed out of any real slump and has nine hits over his past seven games.
So Messick has work to do if he wants to pass him. But with the way he’s pitching, the Guardians left-hander has given himself a real shot to keep climbing before the award is decided.
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