CLEVELAND — One of Stephen Vogt’s earliest observations of Parker Messick in his limited time around him is that the lefty has a demeanor that was ready for the big league stage.
“He’s not big-eyed with anything,” Vogt said pregame Tuesday. “He respects the Major Leagues. He knows it’s going to be difficult, but he seems to just have a calming presence, but a tenacity as well.
“I just love the way he gets down the mound. I like the way he just attacks the hitters. He’s moving fast. He’s coming at you and is not afraid of the strike zone.”
Messick shined in his MLB debut last Wednesday, and he turned in another eye-opening performance on Tuesday, in the Guardians’ 3-0 win over the Rays in his Progressive Field debut. Over seven scoreless innings, the 24-year-old left-hander held Tampa Bay to four hits, including three singles, while striking out six.
Messick retired the first 10 Rays hitters, and his effort was right in line with Vogt’s scouting report. Of his 98 pitches (which marked a season high at any level), Messick threw 66 strikes.
Messick — ranked as Cleveland’s No. 12 prospect — paved the way for the Guardians, whose offense did just enough to end their five-game losing streak. Cleveland snapped a 28-inning scoreless streak in the first inning, when it scored three runs off Rays starter Shane Baz via three singles, a pair of walks and a sac fly.
The Guardians had scored just 18 runs over their previous 10 games entering Tuesday, while going 1-9 in those contests.
Messick is the third pitcher in Cleveland history to throw six or more innings and allow one or zero runs with six-plus strikeouts in his first two career starts (Aaron Civale, 2019 and Luis Tiant, 1964).
