The Cleveland Guardians are getting excellent results from their starting pitching earlier in the season. The pitching has been the reason this team is where it is in the standings right now. One pitcher has been particularly pitching above and beyond this season.
That pitcher is left-hander Parker Messick, who is putting together ace-type numbers early in the season. The 25-year-old was a second-round pick from 2022, and he’s living up to the hype. Recently, Guardians catcher Austin Hedges talked about why he thinks Messick has been so successful.
“He’s still young. He’s just getting his man strength now,” Hedges said. “The thing that has impressed me with Parker, along with the velo, has been the execution of all his pitches.”
The left-hander has increased velocity in all of his pitches through the first 10 starts of the season. The organization worked hard this offseason to improve Messick’s velocity. It raises the floor on his off-speed pitches if Messick can throw with a little more velocity.
Both the velocity and the execution of the pitches have been an improvement for Messick. Hedges is one of the most respected catchers in the game today, so it means something when he praises you. The veteran catcher has also been behind the plate for Messick’s starts, so he sees it firsthand.
Through 10 starts, Messick has a 2.45 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 64:17 K:BB ratio across 58.2 innings of work. When comparing his two big league seasons, Messick has become a lot more difficult to hit than he was in 2025. Messick has allowed only 43 hits across his 58.2 innings of work.
The walk rate is higher than last season, but there’s still time for Messick to straighten that out. Everyone in the organization seems to be thrilled with the results they’re getting from Messick right now. The hope is that he’ll continue to keep getting better as the season goes on.
NEXT: One Guardians Prospect Could Be The Next Chase DeLauter
