Detroit Tigers Former Top Pitching Prospect Finding Form During Dominant Spring

The Detroit Tigers had a few needs that had to be addressed this offseason, with their starting pitching rotation being arguably the biggest.

During their unprecedented run in the second half, the only starts that manager A.J. Hinch had to rely on consistently were American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and rookie Keider Montero.

He would eat innings with bullpen games or deploying an opener with a bulk inning pitcher behind them.

Hinch made it work for a few weeks, but it isn’t a strategy that is sustainable throughout an entire campaign. Adding some depth this winter was a must and the team accomplished that feat.

Veteran Alex Cobb was signed in free agency and Jack Flaherty was brought back after being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the deadline last July.

Those were two solid additions to go along with all of the in-house options that the organization had.

Injuries were a major part of the depleted rotation in 2024 with Reese Olson, Matt Manning and Casey Mize all being hurt. Kenta Maeda was incredibly ineffective, moving him to a bullpen role as well.

This spring, all of them are showcasing some impressive performances as they are looking to lock down a role behind Skubal and Flaherty.

Don't forget about current top prospect Jackson Jobe, who is unleashing new pitches this spring.

But, it is the former first overall pick, Mize, who has been turning the most heads.

He hasn’t come close to living up to No. 1 pick standard to this point. His debut was made on Aug. 19, 2020 and he has thrown only 291 innings in his career with a 4.36 ERA.

Healthy this spring, something is clicking for him on the mound as he has been downright dominant.

Through three outings, he has thrown eight shutout innings, allowing only three hits and two walks. He has struck out 10 batters, carving up opponents with an incredible pitch mix.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, Mize had some elite numbers in his most recent outing against the Baltimore Orioles.

Across three innings of work he struck out five, allowing one hit and issuing one walk. His stuff was virtually unhittable as his numbers were elite across the board.

Mize had a proStuff+ score of 116 with a whiff rate of 57.9% and 0.0% barrel rate allowed. His splitter was his nastiest pitch, registering a 136 proStuff+ with a 100% whiff rate.

With his four-seam fastball and slider also operating at elite levels with 114 and 107 proStuff+ scores, the Orioles had little chance to find success against him.

There needs to be a serious conversation about the strides Casey Mize made in his development this offseason because what he's shown so far is spectacular! pic.twitter.com/XjfsHWdQKJ
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 8, 2025

His track record staying healthy and performing at the Major League level isn’t great to this point, but Mize looks to have truly turned a corner with his offseason work.

He has put himself in a great position to lock down a rotation spot on the Opening Day roster.

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