The 2026 MLB season is around the corner, and the Cleveland Guardians will kick off things with a four-game series in Seattle vs. the Mariners starting on Thursday. Tanner Bibee will take the ball on Opening Day.
Numerous outlets, newspapers, and websites are finalizing their lists of predictions before the start of another exciting campaign, and ESPN’s David Schoenfield certainly had an interesting one about Guardians starter Parker Messick.
Messick, a 25-year-old lefty, earned his place on the Opening Day roster after posting a solid 3.60 ERA in spring training. Of course, the 2.72 ERA he had last year in 39.2 major league innings helped, too.
Schoenfield has more faith in Messick than even some Guardians fans, which is cool to see. He forecasts him becoming one of the pillars of the pitching staff.
“Parker Messick looked promising in his seven-start debut in 2025 and retained his rookie status for 2026. How about this trio of predictions: He leads the team with 15 wins, becomes the first left-handed Cleveland starter to make the All-Star team since Cliff Lee in 2008, and finishes third in the Rookie of the Year voting,” Schoenfield wrote.
How’s that for a trio of predictions? Cleveland fans will certainly be over the moon if Messick hits on all of them.
They are certainly bold, but that doesn’t mean they are impossible. This is a pitcher who owns a solid 3.33 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 354 career innings in the minor leagues. His 420 strikeouts also prove he is dominant and can miss bats, one of the best predictors of future MLB performance.
Messick also has the draft pedigree, having been taken in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. It means scouts and talent evaluators have always held him in high regard.
What he did last year was not a product of luck. The 2.72 ERA was certainly a best-case scenario, but the skills, command, and demeanor are there to make him a good bet to post an ERA well under 4.00 in 2026 and beyond.
Messick is not necessarily a future ace, but his ceiling is that of a solid mid-rotation stalwart, and those certainly have a chance to win 15 games for a contender. Additionally, he doesn’t have to be a frontline pitcher to make the All-Star team.
Messick, in many ways, represents the ceiling of a young and hungry Guardians team. The average MLB fan doesn’t see him coming, but if given the chance, he will deliver.
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