BOSTON — The Cleveland Guardians drafted Parker Messick 54th general in 2022, and the choice to take action is wanting more and more shrewd. Since making his main league debut on August 20, the 24-year-old southpaw out of Florida State College has taken the mound 5 instances and usual a 1.84 ERA and a 2.50 FIP over 29 1/3 innings. And whereas his 18.3% strikeout charge within the majors isn’t spectacular, Messick fanned 29.1% of batters previous to his call-up, suggesting the strikeout stuff continues to be to return. When Eric Longenhagen wrote about Messick in late Could, he identified that the lefty “leads the minors in strikeouts since 2023.”
What makes Messick efficient is a mixture of things that belie his pedestrian velocity and lack of an elite breaking ball. As our lead prospect analyst defined when rating the 50-FV prospect fourth within the Guardians system, “Messick’s 92-mph fastball doesn’t have a ton of carry to it, nevertheless it does run uphill and may garner whiffs through its angle.” Eric went on to jot down that his “changeup is at the least plus.”
Messick considers his changeup to be his finest pitch.
“I might say that it’s,” Messick informed me when Cleveland performed in Boston earlier this month. “So far as swing-and-miss goes, yeah. When it’s paired proper with my different stuff — after I’m tunneling it off of my different pitches — is when it’s at its finest. It does have some sharp motion down on the finish, I suppose. It additionally has simply sufficient velocity differential to get that swing-and-miss on the backside after they’re out in entrance of it.”
Requested if he might elaborate on his favourite weapon, Messick stated he has thrown the pitch the identical approach since his freshman 12 months of highschool. He described the grip as “like a cool circle — I’ve by no means met anybody who grips it precisely the identical approach — however in case you break it down, it’s actually only a circle changeup. Apart from that, I don’t actually know the way to describe it.”
Carl Willis has a very good understanding of why Messick’s changeup is efficient, though he too lacked a concise description.
“I don’t know the best adjective to make use of,” Cleveland’s pitching coach informed me. “However clearly it’s bought form. He executes it. He throws it tremendous aggressively. It matches his supply — it matches his fastball — so it’s exhausting for hitters to select up due to how aggressively he throws that pitch. He costs on the hitter. After which he creates great sink and run with it.”
Per Baseball Savant, the pitch will get 35.5 inches of vertical drop and 14.8 inches of arm-side horizontal break. At 84.5 mph, it doesn’t get excessive velocity separation from his 92.7-mph fastball, nevertheless it’s sufficient to flummox hitters when he’s sequencing nicely. Once more, enjoying his pitches off of each other is integral to his success. So what’s his second-best providing? Messick gave a two-in-one reply.
“In all probability my four-seam fastball,” he stated. “Once you play the north-south recreation with some velo differential, that mixture is my finest pitch. My fastball is round 93, sort of league common, nevertheless it does have an honest profile. There are lots of components that play into heaters, whether or not it’s sequencing, the supply, the arm angle, in case you conceal the ball. It’s not only one factor.” The typical four-seamer from a beginning pitcher this season is available in at 94.1 mph, or 1.4 mph more durable than Messick’s, however his level about the way to succeed regardless of not having overwhelming velo stands.
As for the remainder of his repertoire, Messick has a curveball which “has at all times been there,” in addition to a sinker he added this 12 months, and a slider that has developed from a “sweepier slower pitch to a more durable, sharper slider with a bit of lower.”
Which brings us to the Guardians’ choice to name the Plant Metropolis, Florida native’s identify within the second spherical of the 2022 draft. Eric Binder performs an integral function in Cleveland’s pitching-development program, and he has enter within the group’s draft choices, so I requested the assistant GM what made Messick a fascinating choice.
“He was at all times going to take the ball, and also you have been at all times seeing the most effective of Parker day in and time out,” Binder stated. “That was one of many strengths to his profile. You noticed that by way of his efficiency consistency. Secondary to that, he had some distinctive supply high quality and pitch shapes that organizationally we appreciated. We felt like the way in which he strikes would complement nicely with what we’ve been profitable doing on the participant improvement facet.”
Binder selected not to enter specifics on the distinctive supply high quality and pitch shapes, however he was amenable to addressing the significance of the changeup.
“That’s at all times been his prime secondary pitch,” the chief informed me. “Having a plus secondary weapon which you could lean on is essential, so the problem for him coming into the system was, ‘How do you maintain the most effective fastball and changeup high quality, however then construct out the remainder of the arsenal to achieve success on the main league degree?’ He’s performed a very good job with that.”
The early returns function ample proof. It’s solely been 5 begins, however Messick is wanting like he could possibly be a mainstay within the Guardians beginning rotation for years to return. The changeup is an enormous purpose why.