Casey Mize: ‘I’m not scared to play’

[aubiefifty 18,478]

al.com

 

Detroit pitcher Casey Mize: ‘I’m not scared to play’

Updated: Feb. 20, 2024, 8:41 a.m.|Published: Feb. 20, 2024, 8:30 a.m.

5–6 minutes

---

Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize throws during a spring-training workout on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Lakeland, Fla.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

By

• Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Pitcher Casey Mize is ready to do something in spring training this year that he couldn’t do when the Detroit Tigers opened preparations for the 2023 season.

“I’ll throw as much as they let me,” Mize said. “I just want to play. That’s pretty much where I’m at on it.”

• Former MLB first-rounder from Alabama joins Phillies
• Former Alabama pitcher getting another MLB opportunity
• Say hey, it’s Willie Mays Day

The Tigers chose Mize from Auburn with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, but the right-hander most recently pitched for Detroit on April 14, 2022. Two months later, he had Tommy John surgery and, shortly after that, back surgery.

In Tommy John surgery – or ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction – a tendon from elsewhere in the injured player’s body or from a donor is attached to the inner side of the elbow in place of the damaged ligament. The surgery is named after the first pitcher to undergo the procedure in 1974 and resume his career.

“I definitely went through a really challenging time,” Mize said, “so it just means a lot to me to be able to be back and compete. I’ve always loved baseball. I’ve loved every single part of it. But I think it’s just a new perspective on how much I need to focus just on day by day and on competing and being present and not looking back on what I just went through and what’s in the future. I just really need to be focused on today.

“I don’t want to be the player that’s viewed as always hurt. I don’t think that’s really the case. It’s just, obviously, I missed a lot of time, but I had a very major, very common surgery. If you look around the room at the scars, there’s a few. And I was able to lean on them for those experiences, too.”

Mize had a 19-2 pitching record at Springville High School before going 20-13 in three seasons at Auburn, where he struck out 324 in 267.1 innings.

Mize made 26 minor-league starts, with an 8-3 record and 2.71 earned-run average, before he made his MLB debut on Aug. 19, 2020. His minor-league work included a no-hitter for the Erie SeaWolves in his Double-A debut on April 29, 2019.

Mize made seven starts during the coronavirus pandemic-affected 2020 season. In 2021, Mize posted a 7-9 record with a 3.71 earned-run average in 30 starts for Detroit. He’s pitched 10 innings for the Tigers since.

The Tigers had seven pitchers start at least 15 games last season. But Detroit is counting on only three of them to be back in the rotation this season – Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson and Matt Manning.

No. 1 starter Eduardo Rodriguez signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a free agent, Joey Wentz has been moved to the bullpen, Michael Lorenzen remains a free agent and Matthew Boyd had Tommy John surgery last year.

In the offseason, the Tigers added starting pitching candidates Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty. Maeda has 155 MLB starts, and Flaherty 125.

In 39 starts for Detroit, Mize has a 7-13 record with a 4.29 earned-run average. In 188.2 innings, he has struck out 148 and yielded 172 hits and 56 walks.

“You guys are going to see some different pitch mixes, maybe a tiny adjustment mechanically,” Mize told MLive.com. “I don’t feel like I’m the same. I feel like we’re always adapting and changing, so I don’t want to say I’m the same, but that doesn’t mean I’m worse. I feel like it’s going to mean I’m better.

“Am I anxious to play? I am. But I’m not scared to play. I’m just itching at the opportunity to compete. That’s what I’ve been missing the last two years -- just the competition aspect of it. I’ve been training and preparing and doing all this, and the competition is what I’ve been waiting for.”

Detroit opens its Grapefruit League schedule on Saturday, when the New York Yankees visit Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. The Tigers start the 2024 season on March 28, when they visit the Chicago White Sox.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.