2025 Guardians farmhand earns clearer path to big leagues with Rockies deal

Last November, the Guardians signed left-handed reliever Parker Mushinski to a minor league deal in the hopes that he’d provide the Guardians with some relief depth. 

And while he did just that during his time Triple-A Columbus last season, the Guardians never needed to call upon him despite needing to dip into their bullpen reserves thanks to Emmanuel Clase’s suspension.

But Mushinski will get another chance to prove that he deserves to be in a Major League bullpen, as he signed a minor league contract with the Rockies on Wednesday. MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reported the deal includes an invite to MLB spring training. 

Parker Mushinski inks minor league deal with Rockies after not appearing in an MLB game with the Guardians 

Mushinski arrived in Cleveland after three seasons in the majors with the Astros, where he recorded a 5.45 ERA in 33 innings. He had a strikeout rate of 17.4% across those innings along with an 8.1% walk rate and 45.2% ground-ball rate. 

He ended up appearing in 46 games at Triple-A Columbus, where he had a 3.78 ERA in 50 innings. He primarily relies on his cutter and curveball, though it’s worth noting that he’s surrendered a homer on his cutter in the limited MLB action he saw over the past two seasons. 

While he couldn’t make it into the Guardians’ minor league bullpen, he’ll have an easier path to seeing action with the lowly Rockies. Colorado just finished out a 43-119 season and is set to run it back with manager Warren Schaeffer alongside new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta. 

Although Mushinski isn’t on Colorado’s 40-man roster, he won’t have a ton of competition. Seth Halvorsen and Victor Vodnik are the “aces” at the back of the bullpen (meaning they got double-digit saves last season), but neither one of them are super inspiring options. Mushinski’s also still arbitration-reliable, so he wouldn’t break the bank if called up. 

Pitching in Colorado also comes with the caveat that you’re pitching a mile above sea level, which can cause the ball to fly off bats and for pitches to not break as much. The Rockies have been able to build a winner before within those parameters, but they haven’t had much success lately.

Mushinski boasts a bit of a unique profile in that he’s left-handed and has some experience working with the Astros’ pitching lab, but that wasn’t enough for him to earn a shot with the Guardians. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s going to be enough for him to crack the Rockies’ roster.