The Making of Messick — A Conversation with Guardians’ Pitching Coordinator Michael Peoples
–by Mario Crescibene
When we were asked to do a season recap for a Guardians player, I instantly knew I wanted to focus on Parker Messick. His first action in the majors was highly impressive, and I consider him one of the most exciting young talents on the team. In his first seven starts, Messick posted a 2.72 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and a WAR of 1.2, showing he can compete at the highest level. Rather than offering just my own perspective, however, I wanted to include that of an expert: Guardians Pitching
Coordinator Michael Peoples. But before getting to Peoples’ insights on Messick, let me first explain how I personally analyze pitchers.
Even though I have a master’s degree in statistics — and wrote my thesis on a sabermetric that I created for the NHL — I don’t actually focus all that much on numbers when it comes to baseball. What draws me to baseball is the feel — that energy numbers can’t quite quantify. So when I evaluate a pitcher, I’m not looking at velocity or spin rate…I’m looking for three intangibles: competitiveness, fearlessness, and mental resolve.
Those are the qualities that separate a great pitcher from the good ones. And when I watch Parker Messick, I see all three. You can see his competitiveness in how he consistently attacks the zone, his fearlessness in how he goes right at hitters, and his mental resolve in how he takes on adversity.
One of the first things that struck me about Messick was the pace of his delivery. Even in his first major-league start, he confidently took the mound and started firing away. Parker’s competitive drive and rapid pace led to a first-pitch strike rate of 72.1% for his 2025 season. I asked Michael Peoples whether Parker’s quick rhythm was a trait that was unique to Messick, or something they had consciously worked on.
Peoples told me that Parker “naturally works at that pace due to his competitive nature. He’s always the aggressor and likes to keep hitters in defensive mode.” Messick demonstrated exactly that in his second start—an important matchup in late August against Tampa Bay. In the third inning, he faced catcher Nick Fortes in an eight-pitch battle, attacking relentlessly with five four-seam fastballs and three changeups before finally striking him out to end the inning.
Even to an untrained eye like mine, it’s easy to see that Parker’s competitive drive is etched into his identity as a pitcher. And it’s clearly an attribute the Guardians appreciate in the young lefty as well. Of course, to be a true competitor, you must also be fearless. Fortunately for Messick, being fearless might be his most defining characteristic.
Messick’s fearlessness is what transforms his competitiveness into dominance. Every time he takes the mound, he dares hitters to beat him. As Peoples said, Messick “wants to be the aggressor.” After recording his first major-league win against Tampa Bay, Parker faced them again just two weeks later in a tense rematch with Wild Card implications. The Guardians were locked in a scoreless game with two outs in the fourth, a runner on third, and Nick Fortes at the plate once again. Messick didn’t flinch under the added pressure, firing six pitches—five four-seamers and one changeup—and once again struck Fortes out to escape the inning unscathed.
So far, no moment has seemed too big for Messick. You have to be fearless to have that kind of mentality at the major-league level. And as for hitters? They’re already at a mental disadvantage when they have to face a guy like that, which speaks volumes about Parker’s mindset.
Michael Peoples commented on Messick’s maturity, saying that “Parker did a great job once he got to the big leagues of continuing to be himself.” He also highlighted how invested Messick is in his development, saying that he’s “hungry to get better every day.” Peoples noted that while Messick’s 26% whiff rate was good for his rookie campaign, he will need to “improve his count control and in-zone whiff… and possibly expand the arsenal to create some more platoon-neutral options.”
But with his mindset clearly in the right place, Messick’s already won the biggest battle. Just notice the maturity in this quote from his second game against Tampa: “You can’t control what happens on the field, but you can control how you respond to it.”
Now that’s wisdom I haven’t heard since one of the last times I talked with the Shaman: “And while we cannot always control the experience we are presented with, we do have the power to decide how we choose to react to it.” A 24-year-old with that level of insight is a weapon on any roster.
After such an impressive rookie campaign, I was interested whether the Guardians had considered using Messick for the Wild Card series, but Peoples explained that “the decision for him to finish up his season after the last game against Detroit was a perfect way to cap off a great year…He earned a chance in the big leagues, and he proved he belonged.”
That he did. I think we are all excited to see what next year brings for Parker Messick as he continues to build on an impressive start. The biggest thing now, as Michael Peoples pointed out, “is to heal up and prepare to do it over again next year.” If he stays healthy and keeps honing those three intangibles…we just might have another Guardians ace in the making.
Sources — Baseball Savant (statistical data), MLB.com (game logs), and interview with Michael Peoples (Cleveland Guardians Pitching Coordinator).
