Guardians notes: Left-hander Parker Messick impressing early in his career

CLEVELAND — It looks as though the Cleveland pitching factory may have produced another finished product in 24-year-old left-hander Parker Messick. Though it's only been two outings to begin his major league career, Messick has resembled a future full-time member of the rotation, joining Aaron Civale (2019) and Luis Tiant (1964) as the only Cleveland pitchers to log six-plus innings while allowing a run or fewer and striking out six or more in each of his first two starts. "He's got everything he needs," said Bo Naylor, who has caught each of Messick's starts. "He goes out there with the right head on his shoulders, the right mentality, not letting any moment get too big and he just goes out there and throws strikes, pounds the zone, knows that when he has the opportunity to expand, he takes advantage of it. His pitches, they feel so elite." "We've seen it now for a couple games," manager Stephen Vogt said of Messick, who was a second-round draft pick out of Florida State in 2022, splitting last season between Class A Lake County and Double-A Akron. "Obviously, it's very early, but just the way he commands the baseball — he can go in, out, down, has really good off-speed stuff and good command of the fastball." Vogt likes Messick's fast pace. He started the Guardians' second-shortest game of the season Tuesday (2:02) in a 3-0 victory over the Rays, notching his first career win in the process. "I've always pitched pretty quick, but it honestly just depends on the pace of the game," Messick said. "When your offense is able to jump out on to an early lead, then you can really put your foot on the throttle and just go right after them. It puts the pressure on them and then they feel like they're behind the whole game. That's kind of what you got to do as a starting pitcher. You don't want to ever give them breathing room to where they feel comfortable and they feel like they can climb back. "There might be other times where I have to take it slower and really focus, execute and make good pitches. There's a time and a place for getting after them and then slowing down and making sure you're throwing the right pitch." The right pitch for Messick is most often the changeup. It's responsible for the majority of his 12 strikeouts over the first 13 2/3 innings of his career. "It's just been my pitch since I was a freshman in high school," Messick said. "I've done the same grip, so I just really trust it. For the most part, I know where it's going, so that's the biggest thing. You don't have to have the best stuff in the world, but if you can execute it then it's always going to be a good pitch." "I think it's definitely his strength, but honestly, everything just works so well off each other," Naylor said. "I think each pitch complements the next. So while his strength is the change-up, being able to pair the heater with that and then working the slider off of that and figuring out ways to get the curveball in there, I think everything is just working off each other, just to make him such an effective pitcher overall." Marathon man Jose Ramirez got the day off for the series finale against Tampa Bay. He had played in 128 of the Guardians' 131 games through Tuesday. "Hosey has been playing a ton," Vogt said. "Obviously, (he's) playing every day, and we're about to go 17 (games) in a row after the off day (Thursday), so we just thought in talking with him, 'Hey, two days (off), and they help him just kind of get everything under order. "We all know Hosey plays hard and he's always playing through little things and he's been playing through things all year. So just get him two days and then be ready to go for the 17 in a row." Ramirez entered Wednesday needing one hit at Progressive Field and one stolen base to move past Omar Vizquel in both categories on Cleveland's all-time list. His 825 hits were tied with Vizquel for the most in the history of the ballpark (opened in 1994), while his 279 stolen bases were tied with the longtime shortstop for second-most by a Cleveland player. Reversing the trend Brayan Rocchio has swung the bat much better since a brutal first half got him demoted to the minors. Rocchio hit .165 over his first 35 games before being optioned to Triple-A Columbus on May 12. Since his return, he was hitting .277 over 49 games through Tuesday. He entered Wednesday leading the Guardians with a team-high 21 RBIs in the second half while batting .301 over his last 28 games. "His at-bats have been quality," Vogt said. "He's been driving the baseball, working good counts, getting good pitches. His two-strike hitting has been really good. We've seen him get a number of big hits with two strikes, and I just love the way he's embraced the position change. He's been playing an excellent second base, as everybody's seen, and can still go over to short when we need him to. But his at-bat quality has been outstanding." Next up The Guardians are off today, wrapping up the homestand with a three-game series against the Mariners that begins Friday night at 7:10.LHP Logan Allen (7-10, 4.35 ERA) opens the set against RHP George Kirby (8-6, 4.05), while RHP Gavin Williams (8-5, 3.36) starts for Cleveland on Saturday (7:15 p.m.), opposing RHP Logan Gilbert (4-5, 3.69). RHP Tanner Bibee (9-10, 4.73) goes for the Guardians in the finale Sunday (1:40 p.m.), while Seattle counters with RHP Bryce Miller (3-5, 5.98). Roundin' third The Guardians entered Wednesday tied for the fourth-best record in the majors when scoring first (47-17, .734 winning percentage). Cleveland scored first in 18 of its last 36 games through Tuesday, owning a 15-3 record over the span. l Each of Cleveland's next 14 games will come against teams that are either ahead of them in the postseason picture or within 1½ games. Of the Guardians' final 30 games of the regular season, 23 are against opponents that meet the criteria. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.