Parker Messick doesn't throw that hard, but his fastball is one of baseball's best
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The best pitch in baseball is Jacob Misiorowski’s four-seam fastball, an overpowering heater from the hardest-throwing starting pitcher of all time. You will see it early and often on Saturday afternoon, as Misiorowski takes the mound for the Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS at American Family Field.
Saturday's four-game slate may also feature another one of baseball's elite fastballs. The Guardians have yet to announce their rotation plans, but left-hander Parker Messick is a deserving candidate to start Game 1 of the ALDS following a splendid rookie season. And while Messick is nothing like the hard-throwing Misiorowski, his four-seamer is just as good.
Highest run value on an individual pitch type, 2026
- Jacob Misiorowski (MIL): +29 on four-seam fastballs
- Cam Schlittler (NYY): +28 on four-seam fastballs
- Nolan McLean (NYM): +27 on sinkers
- Parker Messick (CLE): +26 on four-seam fastballs
- Dylan Cease (TOR): +24 on sliders
Messick averages 94.4 mph with his heater and sits in the 40th percentile of MLB in fastball velocity. The Miz sits at 101.6 mph. Here’s a fun note: This season, Misiorowski threw 1,611 pitches faster than Messick’s fastest pitch, a 97.7 mph four-seamer that he fired in a July 26 start against the Rays.
And yet, both pitches -- and pitchers -- are brilliant. There is no one-size-fits-all formula when it comes to getting hitters out. It is embedded in the fabric of baseball’s unshakable charm; it is why these two unique heaters can each bully opposing lineups.
Messick's 2.56 ERA over 32 starts was the lowest ERA by a rookie pitcher to qualify for the ERA title since the Marlins’ José Fernandez (2.19) in 2013. And the fastball has been his engine. To accrue that much run value on an individual pitch, two things must be true. First, the pitch must be thrown well, and that’s certainly the case here. Opponents hit .186 with a .197 expected BA against Messick’s four-seamer in the regular season. He recorded more strikeouts on his fastball (101) than every pitcher besides Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler, two phenoms poised to win the Cy Young Award in their respective leagues.
But volume matters here, too. The offering must be thrown often. Messick threw his four-seamer just 31.1% of the time through his first 16 starts of the season. Then, on June 29, he used his fastball 61.4% of the time, setting a new single-game career high with 51 four-seamers.
Since then, Messick has deployed his four-seamer at the fourth highest rate in the Majors among pitchers to throw at least 750 pitches in that span.
Highest four-seam fastball usage rate since June 29
- Jacob Misiorowski (MIL): 63.2%
- Chase Burns (CIN): 54.2%
- Freddy Peralta (TB): 53.2%
- Parker Messick (CLE): 52.1%
- Gerrit Cole (NYY): 51.8%
Messick does not look like the modern frontline starter, not in an age where pitchers continue to train and prioritize velocity. So how does he find himself in the same breath as The Miz? As it turns out, even in 2026, a good fastball doesn’t have to light up the radar gun. Let’s take a deeper look at what’s happening here.
1) It's about deception
“There’s something special about it,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said in July. “He’s got a really unique, sneaky, quick heater.”
Describing a fastball with unremarkable velocity as “quick” might seem like a contradiction. But this is all about the ride that Messick generates relative to his low release point -- just 5.43 ft. above the ground. Messick uses a powerful drop-and-drive delivery, which means that he can use an over-the-top arm angle and still release the ball close to the ground. That combination messes with the hitter's expectation of what Messick's fastball should look like.
Take one look at Messick's herky-jerky delivery, and you will see how this is a lot to handle.
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It's a unique look, and it works. Hitters swing under the pitch 52% of the time. Messick's four-seamer also generates 16.5 inches of Induced Vertical Break (IVB), which doesn't jump off the page, but it is +1.2 inches of “rise” above average. It carries through the zone better than pitches at a similar velocity and release point, and more than a hitter anticipates.
In some ways, Messick's pitching motion resembles another soft-tossing left-hander with a lights-out heater.
Since 2021, only six pitchers have accrued more run value with their fastball in a single season than Messick did in ‘26. Five of those pitchers threw harder than Messick. The one who didn’t? That would be 'Nasty' Nestor Cortes, who tallied a +27 run value with a four-seamer that averaged just 91.8 mph in 2022. Cortes is a quick worker who relies on deception to throw off a hitter’s timing; he adjusts his arm slot from one pitch to the next as much as anyone. Messick isn’t quite on that level, but he has one of the fastest tempos in the league and hides the baseball well. Along with his drop-and-drive style, those deceptive qualities help his fastball play up.
2) It's about location
Messick relies on plus fastball command, which is essential for someone who doesn’t throw all that hard.
We can measure pitch location in a few ways. Take FanGraphs’ Location+ metric, which uses a model to measure a pitcher’s ability to put his pitches in the right places. No qualified four-seamer grades better than Messick.
That's a lot about Messick's ability to throw strikes. He lives in the zone with his four-seamer, with the 10th highest zone rate among left-handed pitchers (min. 500 pitches). Even beyond that, he keeps the ball up. Messick throws 49% of his four-seamers in the middle of the zone or higher, a top 15 mark among left-handed starters.
The elevated location maximizes Messick’s flat approach angle: From a low release point, his fastball upshoots into the zone.
3) It's about the rest of his arsenal
Messick deploys a six-pitch mix and all of his offerings play off his fastball.
Against right-handed hitters, the left-hander uses his four-seam/changeup combo 72% of the time. Whereas his fastball lives above the letters, his changeup lives below the knees. Messick throws over 70% of his changeups at the bottom of the zone or below it, the ninth highest rate among pitchers to throw at least 300 changeups this season. It's difficult for hitters to cover both extremes of the strike zone.
Meanwhile, against left-handed hitters, Messick throws his four-seam/sinker combo 67% of the time. These days, it seems like every pitcher throws at least two fastball shapes, and for good reason: It's challenging to put a barrel on a fastball when two pitches thrown at similar speeds out of the same window are moving differently by the time they get to the plate. The trick is working for Messick. Lefties have a .155 expected BA against his fastball, which is the lowest among left-handed pitchers (min. 50 PA ending on fastballs).
4) It's about velocity, afterall
Messick may not throw hard, but the success of his four-seamer actually does have a little bit to do with velocity. In a seven-start cameo late in 2025, Messick averaged just 92.8 mph with his fastball, and the opposition hit .302 off it. Overall, his fastball velocity was in the 21st percentile of MLB.
This year, he’s at 94.4 mph. That’s a +1.5 mph uptick in average fastball velocity (including his sinker and cutter), a bigger year-to-year jump than all but 10 qualified pitchers.
Messick hit 96.0+ mph on the radar gun 140 times this season after failing to do so in 2025.
It's a part of the maturation process for a 25-year-old pitcher.
“I've just been able to learn every year what is helping me and what hurts me,” Messick said. “Then applying that to the delivery and seeing the best versions of the delivery over a long period of time. Just continuing to find out those things, and then just keep adding on. I don't know when it'll end, but that's what's causing the continual rise [in velocity]."
In his first career playoff start, Messick may touch 96 or 97 on the radar gun. He might not. Either way, his fastball is elite, and the opposing lineup will have their hands full.