Cleveland Guardians Announce Starting Pitcher for ALDS Game 4

The Cleveland Guardians’ season lives on after their ALDS Game 3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday evening, 9-3.

As great as Game 3’s win was, the Guardians have already shifted their focus to Game 4, which will be on Thursday, with the start time still to be determined.

The first step in that plan was naming a starter, and it will be Parker Messick.

This move comes as no surprise, considering whose turn it is in the rotation and which pitcher gives Cleveland the best chance to send the series back to Cleveland on Saturday.

When the ALDS schedule was announced and the Guardians named Messick their Game 1 starter, he immediately became the top candidate to start a potential Game 4, and now that’s come to fruition.

With the extra day off in between Game 1 and Game 2, Messick will be able to pitch on regular rest in another elimination game for Cleveland.

Messick was phenomenal in his outing against the White Sox in Game 1. Cleveland’s starter ended up pitching 4.1 innings, striking out six batters, and walking just two hitters in his playoff debut.

The only blemish on Messick’s start was a two-run moonshot off the bat of Munetaka Murakami, which ended up being the difference-maker in the game.

As well as Messick pitched last week, that also came in front of his home crowd, not a hostile environment like the one he’ll experience in Game 4.

The South Side was loud on Wednesday night, and it will no doubt be the same during Game 4. Asking a rookie pitcher to take the ball in a win-or-go-home game is no easy task.

However, Messick has consistently pitched some of his best baseball on the road. In the 25-year-old's 16 starts during the regular season away from Progressive Field, Messick logged a 2.22 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, both of which were better than at home.

The playoffs will undoubtedly be different, but Messick’s calm composure makes him the perfect pitcher to take the mound.

Messick said on Wednesday that the postseason atmosphere is something he’s always looked forward to participating in. Even with pitching in an elimination game, Messick said his mindset will be exactly the same, and he will keep his trust in the team.

Vogt said ahead of Game 1 that Messick has consistently given the team a chance to win every time he takes the mound. Now, Cleveland will see if the rookie can do just that in the most important start of his career.