Detroit Tigers starter Casey Mize is getting better.
Seemingly, all the time.
The 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick dealt with injury and performance concerns early in his professional career, but he has matured into a rotational mainstay and one of the players the front office has grown to believe in.
Mutual trust did not come easily.
Management remained hesitant to commit to Mize, despite making a 2025 All-Star Game appearance. His second-half struggles led to the six-year big leaguer entering spring training as a fringe starter. Then he developed mechanical issues in his delivery and posted a 7.15 earned-run average over his initial 11.1 innings.
It was time to take a step back.
Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter helped Mize solve the problems and, along the way, the two rediscovered Mize’s effectiveness on his splitter, his old and new wipeout pitch.
Tigers’ Casey Mize earning belief from team brass
Scheduled to start against the Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park on Wednesday, Mize was coming off last Friday’s outing, where he utilized a sharp slider to blank the Boston Red Sox over 6.2 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.78.
Consistently staying ahead of the Red Sox’s batters, the right-hander finished with a 62 percent strike rate and a 34 percent whiff rate.
Since surrendering five earned runs in 4.1 freezing innings against the Minnesota Twins on April 6, Mize yielded just one earned run on nine hits in his previous 12.1 innings. He struck out 12 and walked two during that span.
Mize, who has thrown his splitter into right-handed batters more this season, continues to overcome poor team defense during his outings.
Mize’s splitter, the pitch that elevated him to the top of the amateur ranks eight years ago, ranked as a plus-3 in pitcher run value, according to Statcast. Previously, it was a minus-11 pitch.
No wonder the Tigers’ brass is beginning to believe the No. 5 starter will continue to get better.
