Parker Messick’s rise has been moving fast enough to make Tuesday night feel almost inevitable.
A year ago, he was still a name on the way up. Now he’s an All-Star, and even without getting the start for the American League, he still landed a spotlight moment in the AL’s 3-0 win. Messick was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for the American League and worked a scoreless inning on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
That kind of showing fits the season he’s putting together in Cleveland.
Messick entered the All-Star break with a 2.73 ERA in 112 innings, and he’s held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 16 of his 19 starts this year. His fastball has been one of the best in MLB, ranking in the 100th percentile in run value, while he’s also sitting in the 84th percentile in hard-hit rate and the 82nd percentile in barrel rate.
For a pitcher who earned his roster spot in the final week of spring training, that’s a pretty sharp climb.
Tuesday’s outing also served as another reminder of how quickly Messick has gone from prospect to major-league presence. Last year, he started for the American League in the Futures Game, and that appearance ended up being the lead-in to his August call-up and the domination that followed.
Against a loaded National League lineup, Messick stayed true to the style that has made him so effective: quick, efficient, and in control. He got Max Muncy to pop out to third base on one pitch, then needed just two pitches to get Ozzie Albies to ground out to shortstop. He finished the inning by striking out Brandon Marsh, using seven pitches to do it.
The Guardians have needed every bit of that steadiness.
Cleveland’s rotation has been solid overall with a 3.69 ERA, but Messick has given them a different level of consistency. Joey Cantillo has the second-best ERA in the group at 3.56, though he battled through the first couple months. Tanner Bibee has a 3.90 ERA, Gavin Williams posted a 6.04 ERA in June, and Slade Cecconi owns a 4.55 ERA after a strong June.
What Messick has done best, though, is simple: he takes the ball every fifth day. That matters for a Guardians club with very little MLB-ready pitching depth.
Cleveland is the only team in baseball to have used just five starters. If that holds all season, it would make them the first team since the 2003 Mariners to get by with only five.
Messick may still be early in his big-league career, but he’s already become one of the most important arms on the roster. Tuesday night was just the latest stage to prove it.
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Former Guardians Starter Just Hit A Brutal New Low
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Civales struggles have been a mix of poor results and bad health, with a rough run since coming back from the injured list and an earlier shoulder issue that knocked him off track in late May. For Cleveland fans who remember him as a dependable part of the rotation, seeing him get pushed into this kind of uncertainty is a stark reminder of how quickly a pitchers value can change when performance and injuries both start piling up. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question is whether the Guardians would be willing to pay the kind of price that usually comes with a useful, controllable hitter this time of year. Cleveland has been careful about preserving prospect depth, and with several teams showing interest, any pursuit would likely come with real competition. That is where the deadline gets tricky for this front office, because the fit is easy to see, but the cost is the part they rarely rush to meet. [Read more 🡒]
One New Deal Just Changed The Guardians Conversation On Bazzana
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Burns new seven-year deal with Cincinnati has added another layer to the conversation, giving clubs around the league a fresh example of how quickly a top young talent can be secured. For the Guardians, the question is no longer just whether Bazzana fits into their future, but whether the timing and structure of a deal can be worked out before the market, and the sports labor picture, make the decision even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]