Guardians’ Parker Messick Misses Out on Rookie of the Year Award

Parker Messick’s 2026 season was one for the record books. That isn’t a subjective claim either, as the Cleveland Guardians pitcher was named one of the three finalists for the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

The winner of the accolade was announced on Monday, and Cleveland’s candidate did not end up taking home the hardware. Instead, the award went to Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, who won the award by a wide margin.

McGonigle ended up receiving 28 of the 30 first-place votes for a total of 204 points. Messick received the other two outstanding first-place votes, for a total of 122 points.

The two players are very similar in the sense that they were each on their respective team’s Opening Day roster, had a massive impact on their team being a playoff contender throughout the year, and were head and toes at the top of their rookie class.

On top of that, each player brought consistency whenever they were on the field.

However, it’s difficult to compare the players directly, since one is a pitcher and the other is a position player. One of them is in the lineup for every game, and the other takes the field once every five days.

To no fault of their own, Messick and McGonigle are just different players, and the voters clearly favored the player who made an impact in the field and in the batter’s box,

The Tigers rookie finished the 2026 season with a .806 OPS and 18 home runs, while Cleveland’s first-year player finished with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

For what it's worth, Messick and McGonigle faced off against one another six times throughout the year. The Guardians pitcher struck him out three times and didn’t give up a hit.

Even though Messick won’t get a trophy for being the best rookie, his first full season as a big-leaguer was still one to remember. He is the second Guardians player in the last two seasons to finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting. The other was Tanner Bibee in 2023.

Messick is still up for a major MLB award, though. The Guardians pitcher is still one of the three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award, which will be announced on Wednesday night.

Even if Messick doesn’t win that award, it's fascinating that one of the top three pitchers in baseball didn’t end up winning the award for the next award.