Stephen Vogt Weighs in on Parker Messick's Rocky Start Against Tigers

Parker Messick didn't look like himself on Tuesday.

But Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt isn't worried about those types of performances being a recurring issue.

On Tuesday night, the Guardians took on the Detroit Tigers from Comerica Park for the second outing of a four-game set, winning, 4-3. Coming off of a dominant win on Monday, 8-2, the Guardians had plenty of momentum. However, early-moving bats by the Tigers put Messick's back up against the wall.

He would end up pitching through five innings, giving up four hits, three runs, two earned runs and three walks, striking out six along the way. For many, that type of performance wouldn't be too shabby, but Vogt knew that it wasn't a normal Messick on the mound.

“You know, I thought… for him to keep us in that game with what he had today, probably some of the worst command we've seen Parker have, but for him to be able to keep getting outs and keep them off the board the way he did, I thought he and Hedgey worked excellent together," Vogt said bluntly. "Just the command we saw from Parker tonight wasn't what we're used to."

Diving into his advanced metrics from Tuesday night, those claims by Vogt can be seen in a more prominent light.

He still generated 11 swings and misses and posted six strikeouts, but his pitches were all over the place. His pitch report, generated by BaseballSavant, shows just how off his control on the baseball was.

Cleveland Guardians, Parker Messick — Baseball Savan

His changeup, which is one of his most effective pitches this season, striking out a staggering 32 batters this season, was shaky. He threw just three in the strike zone, one of which was right down the heart of the zone.

It wasn't just his changeup, though, as across the board each of his pitches: changeup, four-seamer, sinker, slider and curveball, were all down in miles per hour. His sinker and curveball came in at 1.4 and 1.5 mph slower than his season average.

“I mean it's one of those outings where it's just.. didn't have a good feel for the stuff out of the gate, had a good first inning, and then just getting a little just too slow, spinning around the mound sometimes too fast, trying to, you know, make up for it, so it's just one of those trying to find the delivery, and you know, try and do whatever you can, and make it out," Messick said when reflecting on his outing.

But fortunately, the 25-year-old has shown that these types of performances aren't a regular occurrence.

"I don't know what the example of- I'm gonna butcher this, but, 25% of the time you have your A stuff, and 25% of the time you've got nothing. 50% of the time you've got to figure out how to compete," Vogt said when asked about the bumps in Messick's game. "So 75% of the time these guys go out, they're not going to have their A stuff. And Parker knows how to pitch, and he's able to still compete, and he just got himself in bad counts today, which is not his M.O., but excellent, excellent job."

Before Tuesday night, he had given up three or more runs in just three other starts this season. In a young career, one that has still seen just north of 20 big-league starts, Messick has shown good poise and mental fortitude to forget a previously rough start and move on to the next.

His season ERA now sits at 2.45, while his WHIP still comes in at an impressive 1.02 and batting average against at .208.

With a 2-0 series lead and a four-game winning streak still intact, it's hard to be too critical to such a young starter like Messick. After all, he's already given the Guardians a few Cy Young-worthy outings this season.

He's next projected to start on Sunday, May 24, in an outing against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:35 p.m. EST.

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