Tigers fans shouldn't overlook Casey Mize's great start after egregious bullpen blowup

There are two sides to every story — and on Tuesday night, the story for the Diamondbacks was No. 27 prospect Jose Fernandez's MLB debut, during which he hit two home runs. He's only the eighth newcomer in major league history to do that.

The story for the Tigers was worse. A lot worse. After putting up a five-spot in the top of the third, starter Casey Mize gave up just one run — a solo homer to none other than Fernandez. Drew Anderson pitched a clean seventh after Mize was pulled, and Detroit needed just six more outs to bounce back from their disappointing loss behind Justin Verlander on Monday.

Will Vest is one head of the Tigers' three-headed bullpen monster. He gave up three runs in the eighth. Kenley Jansen, another head, gave up a three run homer. To Fernandez.

The Tigers offense couldn't get anything going in the top of the ninth against a familiar face in Paul Sewald, so Fernandez walked away a hero at Detroit's expense.

Early-season overreactions are a little more valid when two of the best relievers in a team's bullpen get teed off of, but we shouldn't forget about the silver lining here: Mize looked very, very good.

His final line: six innings, four hits, one run, two walks, and nine strikeouts.

Casey Mize's start gave Tigers fans something to be happy about after awful loss to Diamondbacks

Mize had a difficult spring training — 6.52 ERA in 19 1/3 innings — and was relegated to the very back of the rotation behind even Verlander, who fans figured was a clear fifth starter. In Lakeland, Mize admitted that there was something wrong with his mechanics, but he vowed to put his head down and work with coaches Robin Lund and Chris Fetter until something clicked.

Clearly, it did.

Mize's splitter was the highlight, generating 17 swings, nine of which were whiffs. He threw more balls than strikes, but his stuff was fooling batters well enough that they swung at almost half of his total offering.

It's a great sign for the Tigers' rotation, which certainly appeared to thin out after Framber Valdez, and for Mize, who's in a walk year.

Vest and Jansen's performances are a red flag, and not a great sign that the bullpen will actually be able to clean up their act after the chaos of last year, but we'll focus on the positives for now and give Mize a well-deserved pat on the back.