It has been a long road for Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize, and that’s an understatement.
He was at one point thought of as the “savior” of the franchise after former general manager Al Avila selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.
He came up through the minor leagues and lived up to the hype, making his debut in August 2020. He made the starting rotation in 2021 and started 30 games that season with a 7-9 record while boasting a 3.71 ERA.
Mize seemed to be on the up-and-up, but elbow soreness early in the 2022 season took him out of the lineup and then he underwent Tommy John surgery in June of that year. That cost him the entirety of his 2023 season. Last season for the Tigers, upon making his comeback, he struggled with inconsistency as well as more injuries.
He was placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring train after 16 starts in 2024 and didn’t get back until August. He finished the season with a 2-6 record and 4.49 ERA, so it was certainly an up-and-down campaign.
Now nearly three years removed from the Tommy John surgery Mize seems to once again be hitting his stride. He threw 5.2 innings of one-hit, no-run ball in his first start of the season against the Seattle Mariners on April 1, which was no joke.
He then followed that up on Tuesday with another gem, but this time against the New York Yankees. He pitched six innings and gave up four hits with just one earned run against him. The Tigers won, 6-2, which gave him his second win of the season.
In the grand scheme of this story, it was also his first win at Comerica Park since July 2021.
He also struck out six.
