The last time the Cleveland Guardians won consecutive games was on July 20-21 against the Minnesota Twins. That was almost a month ago, too long for a team with postseason aspirations.
On Wednesday, the Guardians will have a chance to string together consecutive wins, and they will do it behind their best starter: left-hander Parker Messick. The southpaw has been magnificent this year and is firmly in the race to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He will have to play stopper on Wednesday to help the 61-65 Guardians make up some ground in the picture for the AL Wild Card.
His manager, Stephen Vogt, is well aware of what he can contribute. He praised his ace, mentioning his elite mentality and work ethic as the primary factors behind his success.
“There are very few people like Parker Messick. That’s what I’ve learned,” Vogt said, per MLB.com. “We don’t see very many pitchers who come up and are as determined to work as hard and are driven to get better and better each time. He wants to earn his next start. That’s how he pitches. He pitches to earn the next one and to earn the next inning.”
It’s fair to say that Messick has earned the right to make his next start even if he gets shelled on Wednesday, but it doesn’t matter to him: he always pitches with a sense of urgency that is reflected in his performance. That’s what makes him so great: he is highly motivated to succeed because he has experienced what it’s like to fight for a promotion, as he did last year, and for a rotation spot, which was the case this spring.
The young left-hander boasts an elite 2.59 ERA in 142.1 innings. He has struck out 142 batters, one of the top figures in the American League, helped by an elite fastball-changeup combo, elite command, and a bulldog mentality.
Messick effectively went from rotation hopeful in the spring to staff ace and the backbone of the Guardians’ pitching staff for years to come. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, but that doesn’t mean the young lefty didn’t work for it.
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