The Cleveland Guardians saw a number of rookie players become major contributors to the team's 2026 AL Central title. While many played a significant role in that championship, maybe none were more impactful in the club's success than outfielder Chase DeLauter and starting pitcher Parker Messick. Both men technically debuted with the club in late 2025, but both broke camp with the Guardians as members of the Major League roster. Now, both young men are vying for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. 

Both DeLauter and Messick have made a case for the award individually. DeLauter added much-needed offense to the Guardians with hitting splits of .287/.363/.457 and an OPS of .820. He also registered 16 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases. Messick, meanwhile, was an incredible starter for the Guardians. He posted a year-end ERA of 2.56, threw 186.1 innings, struck out 193 hitters, and went 12-9 on the season. 

Messick was so impressive that since the Rookie of the Year award was introduced in 1947, only one rookie has finished with a better ERA and more strikeouts than Messick, and that's Hideo Nomo. He posted an ERA of 2.54 and had 236 strikeouts on his way to winning the NL Rookie of the Year.

More: Baseball's Greatest Players: The Stalwarts and 10 numbers that define them

One key factor that separates Nomo and Messick is that Messick was a minor leaguer before being called up, while Nomo was playing pro ball in Japan against some of the world's best players. The quality of competition Nomo faced was much better, thus likely making his transition to the Major Leagues a bit easier than your average minor league call-up.

Which help makes Messick's case so strong. Going back to 2010, no pitcher who won the rookie of the year competition had both as many strikeouts or as low an ERA as Messick. Some had better ERAs, some had better strikeout numbers, but no pitcher had both. In fact, only two of the prior winners dating back the last 15 years had better ERAs than Messick. It would seem to suggest that Messick would be a shoo-in for AL Rookie of the Year.

Chase DeLauter may have a hand in deciding the AL Rookie of the Year winner

But how could we forget DeLauter? Of all the rookies in MLB, only one player has more games played and more at-bats logged than DeLauter, and that's TJ Rumfield of the Colorado Rockies. That means, since Rumfield is an NL player, no rookie in the AL has played as many games, had as many at-bats, and had a better average than him. 

Still, being a consistent hitter in a bad offense may not be enough to unseat someone like Kevin McGonigle, who posted a signifcantly higher WAR than DeLauter (7.1 to 3.5) and played in more games and had more at-bats. While DeLauter leads him in batting average, slugging, and OPS, McGonigle has more home runs, more RBIs, more runs, and more stolen bases than DeLauter. If any hitter is going to challenge Messick for the award, there's a case it won't be DeLauter. 

The problem comes down to one simple question: will DeLauter split the vote for Messick against someone like McGonigle? Of the two Guardians players, Messick has the stronger resume for taking home the award, but DeLauter may still pull some of the potential award points from Messick. Voting for Major League awards is done via a ranked-choice system, meaning they rank the players they find most deserving of an award.

In 2025, 13 rookies registered at least one voting point from the pool of electors. If DeLauter earns even just one second- or first-place vote, that may be enough to keep Messick from winning the award. Especially since ESPN and MLB.com both have Detroit's McGonigle as the odds-on favorite to win the award over the Guardians' Messick. Which makes the 2026 AL Rookie of the Year award one to watch, as it feels like it's neck and neck between Messick and McGonigle. 

More MLB news: