Casey Mize had a nice first day on the job. In his major league debut Mize pitched 4.1 innings striking out seven Chicago White Sox hitters while not issuing a single walk. Not bad at all for the Detroit Tigers No. 2 ranked prospect.
As Mize was advertised on the mound he did make a costly mistake. One that Mize brought up after the game. The Detroit Tigers took the lead and Mize gave the lead back to Chicago. Such is the life of a rookie pitcher.
In the 119 years of Detroit Tigers baseball no Detroit pitcher has ever had a debut of seven strikeouts and no walks. Not Hal Newhouse, Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, Mark Fydrich or even Justin Verlander and Jack Morris, all of whom are Tigers pitching legends.
Despite a few misses, Mize showed good command of the strike zone. Painting the corners, giving up a second inning home run can unglue young pitchers in a hurry. Mize gave up a second inning home run to the White Sox Edwin Encarnacion, the young pitcher seemed to dig in and make some adjustments.
For the Detroit Tigers and the fans base, Casey Mize’s may have had the most highly anticipated Tigers debut since 2005 when Justin Verlander first took the mound in the Motor City.
Casey Mize had a great poker face during his debut, his confidence was on display, but he also showed focus and refocus. Mize displays four plus pitches that gives him the upper hand and will surely show its self as he continues to pitch and gets into a five day routine.
While the Tigers lost as a team, one of the organizations top prospects took the mound for the first in what looks to be a long time to come. Casey Mize was very solid in his debut.
He should be fun to watch the rest of the season.
