By Joshua Huff, sports editor
LAKELAND, Fla. — The No. 2 best overall right-handed pitching prospect in the nation made his first MLB start this spring as the Detroit Tigers faced the New York Yankees on Thursday.
Former Springville High School stalwart Casey Mize took to the mound for his first start this season to face Yankee ace Gerrit Cole — Cole is in the beginning of a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees. The Tigers’ right hander pitched two scoreless innings with just one walk and two strikeouts. Mize tossed 30 pitches with 17 for strikes in the Tiger’s 15-11 win over the Yankees.
Casey Mize has been invited to join the club in Lakeland, Florida, for the start of the 2020 season.
“He’s in control out there,” Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire told The Detroit Free Press. “He knows how to read a hitter, he has that great feel for what he thinks they’re looking for and he gets them off his fastball real good. You can’t just sit on fastball. He just knows what he’s doing. He’s in control. You can see it out there. Kind of workman-like.”
Mize has pitched in three games this spring. In those outings, the Triple-A Toledo pitcher allowed two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two batters on Feb. 23 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He then recorded a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts this past Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Through four weeks of spring ball, Mize has showcased his buckling splitter and has touched 97 mph with his fastball. Mize told The Detroit Free Press that so far his cutter has been good, his splitter has been great, he’s been pleased with his slider and his fastball needs improvement.
“Overall I’m pretty happy with everything,” Mize said. “Obviously, I’m not going to be satisfied and try to improve in every area.”
In 26 games in the minor leagues this past season, Mize ascended from rookie ball, through Class A advanced and into Double A. During that time, Mize went 8-4 with a 2.71 ERA in 123.1 innings pitched. He had 120 strikeouts and allowed just 26 walks. Baseball Prospectus named Mize the top prospect in the Tigers’ system.
Mize began the 2019 season as a member of Single-A Lakeland, where he made six starts. He allowed just 17 of 107 batters to reach base while striking out 30. His 0.88 ERA and 0.552 WHIP forced the Tigers to promote him before the first month of the season came to a close.
In his first appearance in Double A, Mize threw a no-hitter for the Erie SeaWolves, which earned him the Performance of the Year as voted on by MiLB.com. In all, Casey would make fifteen starts for Double-A Erie. He recorded a 6-3 record with a 3.20 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, with seventy-six strikeouts over 78.2 innings pitched.
According to Baseball America, Mize enters this season as the No. 4 best overall pitching prospect and the No. 2 best overall right-handed pitching prospect in the nation.
