Mize in 'competition mode' with two rotation spots up for grabs

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A player making his return after missing a full season due to Tommy John surgery certainly doesn’t need any extra motivation to succeed. But, with the final two spots of the Tigers’ rotation up for grabs, Casey Mize has been locked into his quest to claim a starting role with a dedication that’s turned heads among Detroit’s coaching staff.

“Well, he’s in ‘competition mode,’ those are his words, not mine,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Mize’s fifth appearance of the spring in Wednesday's 12-3 win over the Twins. “He wants to make this team, and he wants to show that he can handle one of the five spots in the rotation. So he’s been locked in on all the other things, whether it’s routine, prep, the weight room, game planning and backfield stuff.

“We’ve had to monitor him because he’s coming off two significant injuries. But the other things that he can control? He’s been locked in.”

Mize missed the entirety of the 2023 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and procedure to fix an issue in his back. Before this year’s Spring Training, the former No. 1 overall pick’s most recent foray on a big league mound was two starts in 2022, which he left with an 0-1 record with a 5.40 ERA.

And in knowing how strong recent bias can reign in the minds of scouts and evaluations, Mize has done everything that he can this spring to show the Tigers that he’s prepared for a larger role in the club’s immediate future.

On Wednesday against the Twins, who were rocking a lineup with a good deal of their franchise cornerstones, Mize was dealing. The righty tossed 4 2/3 innings, striking out four batters while allowing just two hits and two walks. The likes of Byron Buxton, Edouard Julien and Carlos Correa provided no trouble for Mize, as he kept the Twins lineup hitless through three innings, lowering his opposing batting average to .185 this spring.

Prior to the outing, Hinch noted that Mize’s velocities had progressed each time he took the mound in Spring Training. On Wednesday, his fastball velocity was averaging 94.8 mph, up a whole click from his Spring Training mark, and topped out at 97.7 mph. Velocity was also up on his slider and splitter, as were the spin rates on all four of his pitches.

“Even in conversations in between innings, guys are telling me, ‘I think you could have gone fastball again there,’” Mize said. “I’ve never had this confidence to be able to throw this pitch this much, and so I kind of shied away from it at times. Then Carson [Kelly], A.J. and [pitching coach Chris Fetter] are like, ‘Dude, you can go back and get it again. You can double up.”

And arriving with the velocity was an increased aggressiveness in the zone. Of the 70 pitches Mize threw, 44 of them were strikes. He found he was able to throw his secondary pitches (slider, splitter and knuckle-curve) in and around the strike zone with confidence.

For someone who’s in “competition mode,” this level of confidence might be the biggest key as he stakes his claim for a rotation spot. Even after jokingly shaking off the grogginess from a three-hour drive from Lakeland to Fort Myers, Mize noted that he’s feeling great -- both on the mound and after his outings.

“It’s been better each outing, like [from] Day 1, after all these starts,” he said. “I know the volume has increased, pitch count has gone up … my body has actually felt better after each of these outings. So, that’s a progression that I’m really happy with as well.”

Availability will be the best ability for Mize, as he continues to hit checkpoints set by himself and the coaching staff. But the focus on his health and the goal of making the rotation on the Opening Day roster aren’t keeping him from cherishing the brief moments of success that show how far he’s come in his journey back to pitching.

When asked about his final pitch of the day, the hardest fastball he threw for a called strike three, Mize let a smile sneak across his face for a brief moment.

“It was good, yeah,” he said. “ … I just really made a point on that pitch [to say], ‘Let's drive a pitch to the bottom of the zone.’ And that was probably the best fastball today, obviously.”