Parker Allen Mushinski (born November 22, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

organization. He played college baseball for

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

. He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) debut in 2022 for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Amateur career

Mushinski attended

Argyle High School Argyle High School is a public high school located in the Town of Flower Mound, Texas (though it has an Argyle, Texas mailing address). The high school opened up in 1999 and is now classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Argyle ...

Argyle, Texas Argyle is a city in Denton County, Texas, Denton County, Texas, United States, with a population of 5,503 as of 2022. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. History The first European settlement, consisting of a few families, occurred in the Argyle area ...

. As a senior in 2014, Mushinski posted a 2.10 ERA with 98 strikeouts over 51 innings. Undrafted out of high school, Mushinski attended

over three seasons (2015-2017) to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Red Raiders. As a junior, he posted a 3–2 record with a 2.15 ERA and 47 strikeouts over innings. He was drafted by the

in the 7th round of the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

and signed with them.

Professional career

Houston Astros

Mushinski spent his professional debut season of 2017 with the Low–A

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

, going 3–1 with a 3.60 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 30 innings. He spent the 2018 season with the Single–A

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

, going 4–2 with a 2.33 ERA and 114 strikeouts over 89 innings. Mushinski split the 2019 season between the rookie–level

Gulf Coast League Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays it ...

, High–A

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

and Double–A

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

, going a combined 0–2 with a 4.35 ERA and 74 strikeouts over 62 innings. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Mushinski posted a 2.84 ERA with 18 strikeouts over innings for the Triple–A

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

in 2021. He opened the 2022 season with the

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

. On April 16,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Houston selected Mushinski's contract and promoted him to the active roster. Due to left elbow discomfort, the Astros placed Mushinski on the 15-day IL on June 7 and recalled

Brandon Bielak Brandon Michael Bielak (born April 2, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics. Bielak played college baseball at ...

from Sugar Land to replace him on the roster. Mushunski was activated July 2022. He appeared in seven total games with Houston in 2022, allowing a 3.86 ERA. Mushinski missed the start of the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

season due to lumbar muscles spasms. On May 22, 2023, the Astros activated him from the 10-day injured list. Mushinski made 10 appearances for Houston in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, struggling to a 6.55 ERA with 3 strikeouts over 11 innings pitched. Mushinski was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Astros on September 6, 2024. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Sugar Land on September 9. Mushinski elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Cleveland Guardians

On November 9, 2024, Mushinski signed a minor league contract with the

that included an invitation to spring training.

References

External links