Parker Messick has never needed eye-popping velocity to stand out, and this season with the Guardians is making that point louder than ever.
Messick first built his reputation in high school, when he won the Wade Boggs Athletic Achievement Award as a junior and then put together a huge senior season in Florida. He finished that year with 125 strikeouts, an 11-1 record and a 1.06 ERA, then was named Florida’s Mr. Baseball.
From there, he headed to Florida State and kept piling up honors. After redshirting, Messick won ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Baseball Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-ACC recognition. He even got a few turns as a designated hitter, and that short run at the plate came with some pop: a home run in his first at-bat and five RBIs in 40 at-bats.
The Guardians took him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, and he moved through the system quickly enough to reach the majors in August during the 2025 season. He showed enough in that first taste to hint at what was coming, and this year he has taken another step, nearly throwing a no-hitter in April while emerging as the leader of Cleveland’s rotation.
What makes Messick’s rise even more notable is the way he’s doing it. He isn’t overpowering hitters with triple-digit heat. According to MLB.com’s Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Messick averages 94.2 mph on his four-seamer, a number that sits between Jacob Misiorowski’s 100.7 mph and Cam Schlittler’s 97.9.
"[Jacob] Misiorowski and [Cam] Schlittler have the first-and-third-best four-seamers in baseball by run vlaue. Misiorowski averages 100.7 mph; Schlittler's 97.9.
Sandwiched between them is Messick, who averages a comparatively pedestrian 94.2 mph on the pitch that's been the centerpiece of a vastly improved arsenal... He's inducing weak contact and letting his defense work behind him.
In a way, he's actually giving the Guardians exactly what ZiPS would have told them to expect - something straightforward, unflashy and pretty effective."
That’s been the story of Messick’s season: fill the zone, challenge hitters, and let the ball get put in play on his terms. The radar gun may not jump, but the results have been hard to miss.
In Other News...
Guardians Power Problem Keeps One Old Trade Looking Even Worse
Power has been one of the biggest question marks around Cleveland for a while, so it is hard not to look back at the November 2021 deal that sent Junior Caminero to Tampa Bay in exchange for Tobias Myers. At the time, it was the sort of prospect-for-pitching swap front offices make all the time, but the gap between the two players has only grown since then.
Caminero has since emerged as one of the American Leagues most dangerous power bats, breaking through as a full-time major league regular in 2024 and giving the Rays the kind of middle-of-the-order threat the Guardians can only wish they had more often. Myers, meanwhile, never found much traction in Cleveland and is now in Triple-A with the Mets, which leaves this trade looking like another painful reminder of how much value can disappear when a young slugger gets dealt before the breakout arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Tough Center Field Decision Fans Can See Coming
The Guardians are staring at one of those decisions that can shape a roster for years, and it is already easy to see why center field is becoming such a focal point. Steven Kwan remains the most established name in the mix, while the organization also has a cluster of younger possibilities in Petey Halpin, Kahlil Watson, Aaron Walton and Jaison Chourio, each bringing a different blend of defense, offense and long-term appeal. For a club that has built so much around finding value before it gets expensive, this is exactly the kind of position where the front office has to balance certainty against upside.
Kwans case is the cleanest in the short term because he has already shown he can handle the job, but the larger question is how far Cleveland wants to go in trying to make him part of the future beyond that. The prospects behind him add intrigue, though none arrives with the same level of certainty, which leaves the Guardians weighing development timelines against the contract realities that usually drive these calls. Center field rarely stays quiet for long, and this is one of those situations where the answer may not be obvious until the club is forced to choose. [Read more 🡒]
Former Guardians Outfielder Just Got Another Shot To Finally Break Through
Johnathan Rodrguez is getting another chance to push his way back into the picture, this time with the Athletics, who claimed the outfielder off waivers from the Pirates and sent him to Triple-A Las Vegas. For a player who has already been designated for assignment by both the Guardians and Orioles this year, the move keeps him in the game and in front of a club that suddenly has room to look for help.
Oaklands outfield injuries could make this a more meaningful landing spot than a typical waiver stop. Rodrguez still has to do the work in Las Vegas, but the path is a little clearer now, and the next stretch could determine whether this becomes just another transaction on his resume or the opening he has been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]