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These 3 Tigers pitchers have seen huge upticks in velocity in spring training

By Matthew Scheidel |
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Yesterday we discussed Jack Flaherty and his uptick in velocity during his spring training start on Saturday. If that's real, that's a major development for the Detroit Tigers. But he's not the only one who has seen a bump in velocity. Several Tigers pitchers, both starters and relievers, have seen their fastballs have a bit more life to them this spring.

It's time to talk about those pitchers. We're only about a week and a half into spring training, so there's still plenty of time for things to change, but these are some things we've noticed so far.

One pitcher who won't be on this list that technically also saw an increase in velo is Jason Foley. He touched triple digits on his sinker in an outing last week. The reason he won't be featured here is because his sinker averaged 97.3 mph last season, and would regularly touch 99. Hitting 100 on the gun was always possible with him. It's still great to see, but it's not something that's unexpected.

The three we're about to talk about? Yeah, I don't think anyone saw these velo bumps coming. Let's get started with the most recent development.

Matt Manning

Manning used to be able to touch 100 on the radar gun, and his fastball would consistently sit 96-98. Those days have long since past...or have they?

In Sunday's spring training outing, Manning's fastball averaged 95.4 mph and went over 97 several times. He even got a whiff on the pitch.

This comes after Manning's fastball averaged just 93.4 mph in 2023. That's a 2 mph increase in average fastball velocity. That's rather significant.

Manning needs this so bad. He's been very inconsistent when healthy. His surface numbers have always been decent, but the peripherals have never liked him. It always looks like he should be pitching worse than he actually is.

His extention makes the fastball his best pitch already, but now with higher velocity? Oh man. He could have one of the best heaters in the league, straight up.

If this is real, that's a huge development for Manning and the Detroit Tigers. This is a big year for Manning, so here's to hoping the uptick in velo carries over into the regular season.

Casey Mize

Bet you didn't expect to see this name on here, did you? Well, to be quite honest, neither did we. Considering all that Mize has gone through, it was going to be a miracle if we saw any positive developments from him. We were just going to be happy if he was healthy. But to see what we've seen early on, we couldn't be happier.

In his last full season in 2021, Mize averaged 94 mph on his four-seam fastball. He came out of the bullpen on Sunday, and the fastball was averaging 95.4 mph. In his first outing of the spring, his fastball was consistently hitting 97. He hasn't done that since his days at Auburn.

Apparrently, he's worked a ton on his fastball, which is good. If the heater isn't effective, than his offspeed and breaking pitchers won't be either. He's also ditched the sinker, which is a great move since that would always get crushed.

Not only has his fastball seen a nice jump in velo, but he's getting whiffs on it too. That might be a more important development than that velocity, if we're being honest.

These are two important steps for Casey Mize in his return from Tommy John surgery. The next one? Command. He's walked two in each of his appearances so far this spring. However, command is usually the last thing to return when recovering from Tommy John surgery, so we're not too worried about that just yet.

Wilmer Flores

The only prospect to make an appearance on this list, Flores averaged just 92.8 mph in Double-A last season, a sharp decline from 2022. He just wasn't as good last season, and that was a huge reason why. In his first spring training outing, Flores came out guns-a-blazing, throwing 99 mph consistently. Welcome back, Wilmer.

Apparently this is something Flores has been working toward. In an article from MLB.com's Jason Beck, Flores said he's been trying to get his velocity back up, among other adjustments.

Flores was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster this offseason. The team clearly still believes in him. A.J. Hinch even said in the article above that Flores is closer than he realizes. The talent, the makeup, the size, the stuff — it's all there. Now it's about finding the consistency he had in 2022.

Flores may not be a starter long term, but he could easily be a dynamite reliever. We can't wait to see what else he has in store for us this spring.

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