Late on Monday, the Cleveland Guardians earned their third win of the season against a tough Los Angeles Dodgers team that has captured the last two World Series. They did it with a rookie, Parker Messick, dominating on the mound.
Messick, who already showed how effective he can be against major league hitters last year, earned a rotation spot over Logan Allen in spring training. It has the potential to be one of the most important decisions of the season for the Guardians.
On Monday, Messick held the reigning champions to just five hits in six scoreless frames. He also avoided walks and struck out five in the amazing display of talent and command.
Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing had nothing but kind words to say about the Guardians lefty and his fantastic performance on the mound.
“You don’t roll through a lineup like this and limit them to no runs for however many [Parker Messick] went. He threw his tail off. He looked really good tonight. Sometimes you gotta tip the cap, but at the same time, we’d like to see him again,” Rushing said, per Jacob Gurvis of MLB.com.
Rushing, who went 1-for-2 on the game, got a taste of what it’s like to face Cleveland’s rookie. Messick won’t flirt with the triple digits, but he knows how to pitch and has a clear plan of what he wants to do on the hill.
It didn’t hurt that he worked with Guardians reserve catcher, Austin Hedges, who is one of the best game-callers in the league despite his low offensive output.
What Messick did was thoroughly impressive: he dominated a lineup that had four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman, and other talented hitters.
Neither he nor the rest of Cleveland’s relievers gave away a single walk, so no, they weren’t just nibbling around the zone: they consistently went after hitters, and the results were unbelievable.
Messick, who had a 2.72 ERA last year in 39.2 innings in his short MLB cameo with the Guardians, is aiming to replicate or improve those numbers over a larger sample.
It’s safe to say he’s off to a great start.
NEXT: Gabriel Arias Is Off To Concerning Start To The Season
