The Cleveland Guardians have both good organizational pitching depth and a need for reliable back-end starters.
It might sound contradictory, and it’s hard to explain, but that’s exactly what is happening in the organization.
The Guardians have numerous back-end types (Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen, Triston McKenzie, Doug Nikhazy) who, for one reason or another, haven’t been able to successfully seize a spot.
There are the injured (Cecconi) and the ineffective (Allen, McKenzie), plus those being used in a different role.
This creates a perfect storm for young, inexperienced pitchers like Nikhazy or Parker Messick to potentially win a role and get a call to Cleveland.
Messick took a nice step toward seeing MLB time at some point this season with a brilliant 2025 debut in Triple-A.
“Cleveland Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Parker Messick tossed four scoreless innings making his Triple-A debut tonight for Columbus striking out a pair of St. Paul batters. Line – 4.0(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 2BB 2SO (71 Pitches 43 Strikes). Fastball topped out at 96.5 mph and averaged 92.9 mph,” Guardians Prospective wrote on X.
Cleveland #Guardians 24yr old LHP prospect Parker Messick tossed four scoreless innings making his Triple-A debut tonight for Columbus striking out a pair of St. Paul batters.
Line – 4.0(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 2BB 2SO
(71 Pitches 43 Strikes)
Fastball topped out at 96.5 mph and… pic.twitter.com/nFTSGndxxs
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 3, 2025
That max velocity is a couple of ticks harder than where he was last year.
Messick is one of the most talented pitching prospects the Guardians have, and has a higher ceiling than Nikhazy, Ryan Webb and most of the pitching prospects in the organization.
In 2024, Messick put up a 2.83 ERA in 133.2 innings in High-A and Double-A.
Triple-A is much more difficult than Double-A, so if Messick can go on a run there, he could position himself for a chance in Cleveland.
NEXT: Kenny Lofton Has One Wish For The Guardians This Season
