Guardians make clearest Parker Messick statement yet with latest ALDS honor 

Last year the Cleveland Guardians elected to leave Parker Messick off their Wild Card Series roster so they could keep him fresh for a potential berth in the American League Division Series. 

Although that appearance never came thanks to the Guardians’ Wild card loss to the Tigers, he’s going to get a good acne to make up for lost time on Saturday when he takes the mound in Game 1 of the Guardians' ALDS matchup against the Chicago White Sox. 

Earlier today, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt announced that Messick is going to start Game 1 of the series ahead of Gavin Williams getting the start in Game 2. 

Parker Messick is going to get the ball in Game 1 of the ALDS

Messick’s postseason start will be the final feather in the cap in what’s been a dominant season for the 25-year-old. After announcing his presence last season with 39 2/3 strong innings, he finished this season with a 2.56 ERA in 186 1/3 innings. 

Not bad for a guy who only had a spot on the Opening Day roster because Logan Allen struggled in his final spring training start. 

That said, Messick’s start will be his first outing in six days since he worked just three innings in Cleveland’s season finale last Sunday. 

The Guardians are going to enter the series as fresh as they can be after earning a bye to the ALDS, but the one downside of that is that Messick and Miller are going to make their start after a long layoff. 

Meanwhile the White Sox are heading to Chicago with some momentum after beating the Astros in the Wild Card Series. 

Speaking of the White Sox, Messick made four starts against Chicago this season (his most against any one team) to the tune of a 2.81 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. 

Although the Guardians split their four starts against Messick in the regular season, he went at least six innings in three of those four starts while racking up 8+ strikeouts. 

He seemed destined to record another dazzling start in his final start against the White Sox at the start of September before Tommy Pham tagged him for a three-run homer that gave the White Sox the lead before Petey Halpin ended up saving the day. 

Pham is one of four White Sox to hit a homer off Messick along with Munetaka Murakami, Braden Montgomery and Miguel Vargas. 

This likely won’t be Messick’s only start in the series since the schedule is set up in a way that he could get the ball in a potential Game 4 on normal rest. The same can be said for Williams, who could start a potential Game 5 on normal rest. 

But that’s a question for another day. The only thing guaranteed is Messick getting the ball in Game 1, and the Guardians are going to be in a good spot because of it.

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