Detroit Tigers observations: Casey Mize flexes improved fastball in live batting practice

LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize didn't tip his hand about the velocity of his four-seam fastball, but he discussed the shape and the location of his most-used pitch as he returns from elbow surgery and back surgery.

The induced vertical break on his fastball has increased from an average 15 inches in the 2022 season to an above-average 18 inches in 2024 spring training, meaning his heater has more perceived carry and should be more effective, especially since he is going to utilize fastballs at the top of the strike zone.

"We just think the fastball up can be more of a weapon for me," Mize said, "so I'm trying to work on that a bit."

It's a new look for the way Mize attacks hitters.

Mize, 26, showcased the attack plan throughout Thursday's live batting practice session at Joker Marchant Stadium. The former No. 1 overall pick faced Javier Báez twice, Spencer Torkelson twice and Colt Keith once.

"He looked like he was commanding all of his pitches and keeping his heater out of the middle of the plate, which is crucial in this league," Torkelson said of Mize. "His fastball looked electric. It was hard to hit."

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His final three pitches, all to Torkelson, were perfectly executed: back-to-back elevated fastballs for swinging strikes and a down-and-away slider painted on the corner for a called strike.

Increasing the ride on his fastball should keep hitters guessing with the splitter if he throws those pitches from the same release point.

But Mize thinks the improved ride on his fastball is going to benefit another secondary pitch.

"Maybe more so with the curveball," Mize said. "The spin is pretty replicated. One is front spinning and one is back spinning. If I can get 18 on the heater and 15 on the curveball, you're looking at close to 3 feet of difference, and the spin looks very similar, so maybe more so with the curveball."

Mize finished better than he started in his first live batting practice of spring training.

"I thought I finished strong," Mize said. "I feel good with everything. I threw some sliders I liked, which has probably been the last pitch to come in all of this, so I was happy with that. Breaking ball, I thought, was good. I threw some really good fastballs at the end. I threw a couple of good splitters that I liked, too. Everything, I felt like, was pretty good."

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He had one hiccup — the pitch clock.

Mize has never used the pitch clock, introduced to MLB games last season, because he hasn't pitched in a big-league game since April 2022. The 15-second pitch clock expired before he threw one of his pitches because he was shaking to different pitch calls. He would have been charged with an automatic ball in a game.

The mistake prompted a lesson from manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter about when to step off the mound and when to call time.

"We've timed me, but not where I had the visual of the clock," Mize said. "And I'm not shaking in bullpens, so I was throwing with six, seven seconds every time. You get competitive, you want to shake to what you want (to throw), and then you forget. It was smooth sailing after that with the pitch clock."

The story of the broken bat

After facing hitters, right-handed reliever Alex Lange sat at his locker holding a broken bat.

Lange broke Parker Meadows' bat, and Meadows gave it to him as a show of respect.

"He gave it to me as a gift, and I'm going to put it in my little collection," Lange said. "When he's a Hall of Famer, I'm going to cherish that."

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But Lange wanted something more. He wanted Meadows to sign it.

So, the bat was taken back to Meadows for his autograph.

"When a big-league closer asks me to sign my bat, I'm going to do it," Meadows said, signing the bat.

What happened?

"It was a curveball, and I got a little too excited — tried to hit a homer, but I didn't do that," Meadows said. "It was off the end of the bat. It was a good pitch. He looked good. It's always cool watching him on the mound because he's got the dog mentality. He wants to get you out. So, he looked good. Fastball was good. Curveball, of course, is a good strikeout pitch."

Lange called his first outing "fine."

"Getting a feel of the zone, getting the jitters back and working through the nerves and stuff," Lange said. "It was pretty good today, wasn't great, wasn't horrible, but good first step."

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Prospect performance

Right-hander Ty Madden, the Tigers' No. 2 pitching prospect behind Jackson Jobe, according to MLB Pipeline, threw his first live batting practice.

And Ryan Kreidler was impressed.

"Firm stuff," Kreidler said. "Everything was firm. He's competitive. He was a pretty polished college arm coming out of the draft, and he's grown even since he got drafted. The stuff is good. Fastball is good. Good first day for him."

Joey Wentz

Left-hander Joey Wentz, working exclusively out of the bullpen in spring training, threw a live batting practice at Joker Marchant Stadium, facing Andy Ibáñez, Zach McKinstry and Matt Vierling.

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His secondary pitches looked sharp.

"Maybe just a little adrenaline," Wentz said. "I tried to fix some (arm) slot issues, fix some hand issues. I feel pretty strong right now, so the body is probably naturally getting in some better positions."

Wentz isn't sweating the fact that the Tigers moved him to the bullpen. He logged a 6.90 ERA with 47 walks and 98 strikeouts over 105⅔ innings last season.

"I still have to pitch," Wentz said. "I still have to work on my game. I'll try to throw the best I can wherever it is, and for now, if that's out of the bullpen, that's fine by me. I want to help the club."

Play of the day

Vierling hit a ball off the roof of the Corona Cabana — directly below the scoreboard in left-center field — with his final swing in batting practice (before live batting practice) at Joker Marchant Stadium.

It was an absolute moonshot to the pull side.

"I just need to do that in live BP," Vierling said.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold. Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him @seideljeff.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers observations: Casey Mize flexes improved arsenal