Reliever who somehow never got a shot with Guardians last season turning into weapon with Rockies

Last season the Cleveland Guardians cycled through 15 relievers while they navigated the fallout from Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz’s suspension. But that doesn’t mean that they used every reliever they had at their disposal.

One of those pitchers that never got a big league call was Parker Mushinski, who spent all of last season at Triple-A Columbus despite coming off three straight seasons of big league experience with the Astros. 

But that hasn’t been the case this season, as he earned a big league call up with the Rockies at the beginning of August and has pitched well in his limited action since. 

While that doesn’t mean the Guardians’ decision to leave him in Triple-A last season was wrong, he’s the second former Cleveland farmhand to get a big league call-up this month alongside Bradley Hanner. 

Parker Mushinski is making the most of his big league opportunity with the Rockies

Mushinski signed a minor league contract with the Guardians last season and posted a 3.78 ERA in 50 innings while also working as the team’s closer for a bit (seven saves). But that was never enough to get him a big league look (likely because he wasn’t on the team’s 40-man roster). 

He ended up signing a minor league contract with the Rockies in the offseason and spent pretty much the entire season with Triple-A Albuquerque after initially opting out of his deal following spring training. 

He posted a 3.48 ERA in 48 innings at Albuquerque before getting called up to the Rockies, where he has a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings. 

While that performance seems to be untenable given his under-the-hood numbers (he hasn’t struck out a hitter and has an expected ERA of 6.85), the Rockies seem content to ride the Mushinski wave for as long as possible as they try to crawl their way back to relevance. 

Mushinski had a 5.45 ERA in 33 innings with the Astros from 2022 to ‘24 with the Astros. His 14 2/3 innings with Houston in 2023 stand out as the most action he’s seen in a single season. 

Although the Rockies have the third-worst bullpen ERA in baseball (4.92), their relief unit has actually been better than the Guardians over the last 30 days (Cleveland’s bullpen has a 4.90 ERA over that span compared to Colorado’s 4.87). 

Mushinski has played a part in that alongside new Colorado closer Jordan Romano, who has a 3.09 ERA with eight saves since joining the Rockies. 

Even if Mushinski isn’t going to end up becoming the one who got away for the Guardians (regression will likely come soon), his promotion is a testament to just how much talented pitching the Guardians seem to have in their system at all times. 

Most franchises would have been forced to call up a reliever like Mushinski if they lost their closer, whereas the Guardians were able to almost exclusively rely on homegrown talent. 

But now Mushinski is getting a chance to prove himself with the Rockies, and he’s answered the call thus far. 

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