Detroit Tigers' Casey Mize has been good, but ...: Here's what has been missing
Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize has completed seven starts in his long-awaited return from elbow surgery and back surgery. He is satisfied with the outcomes of his performances, highlighted by his 3.58 ERA across 37⅔ innings, but he also acknowledges areas for improvement.
Mize is still searching for consistency.
It's been a grind on the mound every five days, though Mize keeps winning those battles. He faces his next test — a new opportunity for consistency — in Wednesday's series finale against the Miami Marlins at Comerica Park.
"I'm always going to be pleased when there's not many runs on the board," Mize said. "But obviously, over the course of the season, the more you can have consistency and all your stuff show up out there, it's going to lead to better results over time. I think I'm just trying to get to a point where I feel really good about having all of that coming together consistently."
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The 27-year-old has given up at least five hits in all seven starts, combining for 40 hits this season, but he has allowed just 15 earned runs and completed the fifth inning in all but one of his starts.
Three times, Mize has completed six innings.
"If I walk away from a start knowing that I had one pitch or two pitches," Mize said, "and I still had a quality start, I'm certainly going to be pleased with that, but it's still going to leave something to be desired for next time to improve on."
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That's exactly what happened in Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros at Comerica Park, when Mize allowed one run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts across six innings.
Mize had a good feel for his four-seam fastball, which has been a trend throughout his seven starts, but he didn't have any of his three secondary pitches: slider, splitter, curveball. His fastball has improved significantly since coming back from elbow surgery and back surgery, now averaging 95.5 mph with more ride.
"It seems like each game I've had the heater and then I've had like one secondary offering that I've been really pleased with," Mize said, "so I'd like to have two and hopefully three, then I can really put it all together. That hasn't shown up yet. I'm working towards that right now."
Facing the Astros, the Tigers had the lead and were in position to win Thursday's game when Mize walked off the mound for the final time. (Two relievers squandered Mize's effort by allowing four runs in the eighth inning.)
"He's just a competitor," catcher Jake Rogers said.
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It was another gritty performance that resulted in a good outcome.
"He does compete a ton," manager A.J. Hinch said. "It's him against the hitter. He doesn't shy away. Sometimes, he'll misfire, but he comes back and collects himself. He always seems to make a pretty good pitch at a really important time."
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Mize isn't striking out batters at an above-average clip because he isn't generating enough swings and misses, but to thrive in compete mode, sometimes without anything more than his fastball, he keeps walks to a minimum while getting outs in non-strikeout ways.
Contact doesn't scare Mize.
"In general, the stuff has been better, so I think that helps," Mize said. "Not being afraid but also not dancing around by either shoving the ball in the strike zone or seeing what happens if they put the ball in play. I'm not afraid of that. ... I feel a lot more confident in those moments than I probably did in the past."
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Mize, though, would benefit from more swings and misses, which is true of every pitcher to ever step on the mound. His 20.8% whiff rate ranks in the 19th percentile; his 16% strikeout rate ranks in the 13th percentile.
To improve those marks, Mize needs to find consistency with his secondary pitches. Unlocking a better version of his slider should lead to more whiffs and more strikeouts, considering his splitter has a 35.5% whiff rate.
Mize reflected on his less-than-stellar whiff rates, as well as his impressive 3.58 ERA across seven starts.
"I think outs and runs matter a ton, but I also agree that, over time, you're going to get more outs and limit runs if you can get a lot of swing and miss," Mize said. "I think both can exist in the same world, and the best of the best do both at a really high level. They get tons of outs and throw a lot of innings with a lot of strikeouts. There's times where I get a little frustrated with people that don't value limiting runs, and there's times where I understand strikeouts matter a ton.
"Batting averages on strikeouts are zero. I understand that. I understand why we're all chasing that because that's going to put our team in the best chance to win. I've gravitated a little bit more toward that side, like I understand the math behind why we should be chasing this, and it's certainly something I know I need to improve on and I care about. It's not the end all be all, but I do understand that it's a good balance. If you look around the league, the best of the best players can do both. I think that's just the goal."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Casey Mize breaks down good, but not great, 2024 start
