2024 Breakout candidate: Zach Messinger

6-foot-6

225-pounds

Right-handed

Starting pitcher

24-years-old

In a recent interview between New York Yankees Underground and Grayson Crawford, the Yankees’ Double-A pitching coach, we asked him who his “picks to click” were for 2024. The first name that came out of his mouth was Zach Messinger.

This was no slip of the tongue. Messinger has all of the qualities you look for in a pitcher with an impending improvement in performance. He has size, good stuff, multiple offspeed offerings, improving control, he misses bats, and he eclipsed the 100 innings mark for the first time in his career in 2023.

Messinger was one of my top picks to break out in 2023, but as I always say sometimes it doesn’t happen when you think it will. He finished the year with a 4.35 ERA and 120 K : 54 BB in 101.1  innings for the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades. Batters hit .226 against him. He started a career high 21 games and was able to hold his velocity and stuff late into games. 2024 should be the year he is free of any innings restrictions.

Stuff-wise, Messinger has a 91-95 mph fastball with a changeup, slider, and curveball as his secondary pitches. The fastball has reached higher than 95 a few times already. He gets good movement on his secondary pitches and generates a lot of swings and misses. At 6-foot-6, there is a high probability he can build more velocity as time goes on.

2024 could be the year Messinger puts himself on the map as a potential frontline starter. The ingredients are all there to make that leap. His ceiling is in that realm, while his floor at this point would be a middle reliever in the major leagues.

He finished the year with a start in Double-A and I would expect him to start there next year. With the talented arms surrounding him at the level, there will be plenty of healthy competition. Messinger will look to fulfill his potential and put himself at the forefront of that competition for a promotion to Triple-A before the end of the season.

Anytime a Double-A pitching coach gives accolades to a guy like Zach Messinger, it’s worth taking notice. Especially when that pitching coach is one of the best there is at his level. Zach brings a lot to the table and I’m expecting big things in 2024. As they say in the scouting community, “he’s arrow up,” which means he’s not done improving. He’s now just a couple steps away from the major leagues, and his time may be coming soon.