Detroit Tigers: Casey Mize Has Fallen Back to Earth…Well to His Standards

On Saturday evening, Detroit Tigers pitching prospect Casey Mize fell back down to earth after his no-hit debut with the Erie Seawolves.  However, Mize continued to show why he was drafted with the #1 overall pick in 2018 with his five-inning, two hit performance versus the Bowie Baysox.

Detroit Tigers top prospect Casey Mize surprisingly did not throw a perfect game Saturday evening at UPMC that he jokingly alluded to in a post-game interview following his AA debut on Monday, where he threw a no-hitter.

Mize pitched just fine in limited action tonight, throwing only 5 innings.  That was due to a combination of a rising pitch count (he threw 78 pitches; 56 thrown for strikes) and the cold weather in Erie, Pennsylvania.  The temperature sat in the high 40s throughout the game and probably played a factor in calling Mize’s night a little early.

Casey really impressed me, nonetheless.  While he did not throw a no-hitter today, he still dominated and looked superior to his competition.  He really is something Tiger’s fans should get excited about.  And some already have.  At the game tonight, I saw many, including myself, sporting Detroit Tigers hats, jerseys, and other apparel.  The Erie crowd knew what was going on tonight, and paid their respects accordingly despite the cold weather.

Mize has the ability to make hitters miss and force weak contact due to his mixing of pitches, and he showed it throughout the night.  He has a pretty good slider that can force swings and misses and sat mid-90s today with his fastball.  And we all know about his nasty 70-grade splitter (out of 80) according to mlb.com.  This pitch totally disappears last second and is a nightmare for hitters.

While he gave up two hits, they were both weak groundballs.  The first hit, in the third inning, arguably should’ve been fielded by shortstop Sergio Alcantara, as it went between his legs.  He made up for it the next play with a diving catch off a liner to his left to end the inning.  The second hit, by T.J. Nichting, was a dribbler through the hole between the first and second baseman.  This was the first base hit to the outfield allowed by Mize since April 9 while pitching for the A+ Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Nichting eventually came around to score on a fielding error by second baseman Chad Sedio.  This unearned run was the only run allowed by the Seawolves tonight.  The only hard hit ball all night came in the third inning when Preston Palmeiro flew out to center where Derek Hill had to run a long way to make the play.

The Erie Seawolves won today’s game versus the Bowie Baysox by a score of 6-1, with Casey Mize picking up the win.  His final line in his UPMC Park Debut was 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

Mize has looked really good early on and will look to build upon that success throughout the season, alongside other fellow prospects Matt Manning and Alex Faedo.  While it can be hard to be patient during a rebuild, Mize and the other Howler’s pitchers are making it a whole lot easier.