The Tigers gave Casey Mize the news he knew was coming Monday, that he won't start the season in Detroit. He'll be sent to Toledo to train with the taxi squad instead. And Mize took it in stride, according to Ron Gardenhire and Al Avila.
"The greatest thing about the kid is he has questions. Things go through his mind and he talked to us about some of his thoughts, and that's what you want from a young man like that," Gardenhire said. "He's on the right path. This organization said a few years ago this is the way we were going to do it, and we're sticking to it. He's going to go down and pitch and he'll be ready when needed, if we need him.
"The kid's got a lot going for him. He's a really good pitcher, he's a class act and he handled himself very well in the office when we told him he wasn't going to start with us."
Mize put on a show during Summer Camp, a continuation of his strong performance in spring training. He certainly looks like one of the five best starting pitchers in Detroit's organization. But if the Tigers wait about a week into the season to summon him to the big leagues, they won't burn a year of team control on his contract.
That's why he's headed to Toledo, even if Avila isn't allowed to admit it.
"No," he said when asked if service time played into the club's decision. "Summer Camp is intrasquad games, and a lot of these games were just live BP's. So this is not really a measure for me as far as a guy being ready. This is more (about) getting our Major League team ready for the season, and that's basically what we've done."
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Avila said his message to Mize was to stay sharp and continue building up his arm. The Tigers had to shut him down in August last season after a bout of shoulder soreness, and this season comes with its obvious restrictions.
"Stay healthy, stay fit and get yourself ready so when your time comes and we call down there, everybody says, 'Hey, he's ready to go,'" Avila said. "Our expectations are high that he's going to be one of our workhorses. He obviously handled it well. Like I said, he's a pro, and he'll go down there and work hard and get himself ready."
If there was any doubt as to why Mize is one of the top prospects in baseball, the 23-year-old silenced them over the past few weeks. He struck out Miguel Cabrera on three pitches in one of his first at-bats of Summer Camp and never looked back. With two spots open in Detroit's rotation, it's a good bet that Mize will be here soon.
He'd likely be here now if not for complications of service time, but Avila wasn't going to comment on the matter any further.
"I'm not going to get into that, because that's not a thought process for me right now," he said. "When we feel our young players are ready to come up and contribute, we will bring them up at the time we feel they're ready and we feel we have the biggest need. At this point, that's really the thought process."
