Eduardo Rodriguez will start for the Tigers in Friday's spring training opener at Joker Marchant Stadium, but Casey Mize is eyeing April 8 at Comerica Park. Aces take the ball on Opening Day. And what is Mize supposed to be if not the Tigers' ace?
"It would be huge, it definitely would be," Mize said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "I’m not sure how that’s going to shake out and I’ll be happy to do whatever’s asked of me, but that definitely would be awesome to be Opening Day starter and pitch in front of the great fans in Comerica.
"But if that's Eduardo, I’ll be fully supportive of him doing that as well and I’ll go out there and do my thing whenever that’s needed. Just looking forward to getting the season started. I’ll pitch on any day they tell me to and try to win the game."
The Tigers open against the White Sox, a chance for Mize to set a new tone against the reigning division champs. Detroit finished 7-12 against the White Sox last season, one of the only winning teams it struggled to beat, and Mize finished 0-3, though he mostly pitched well. He's yet to beat Chicago in his young career. No time like Opening Day to flip the script.
This is why the Tigers drafted Mize first overall in 2018, to be the rock of their rotation for the next decade. They also gave Rodriguez a five-year, $77 million deal this winter to be the winner their rotation was lacking. He's a workhorse and a World Series champ who won almost as many games (19) in 2019 as Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning have won (20) in the majors together.
Wherever Rodriguez lands in Detroit's rotation, Mize said his addition is "huge."
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"He's pitched in some big-time games, which obviously none of us have ever done, so we’re going to be able to lean on him in that regard," said Mize. "Just an experienced guy who’s been around a while and has a lot of knowledge on opposing teams and hitters. Watching him go compete and put us in position to win is going to be contagious. Looking forward to watching him do his thing."
And Mize is eager to do more of his own thing this season. He was limited to short starts on extra rest down the stretch last year as the Tigers protected his arm in his first full big-league season. He understood it, even if he didn't love it. He turns 25 in May. Asked about the next step in his career, Mize said, "The next step would be no limitations."
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"Looking forward to a completely normal season from a limitation standpoint," said Mize. "I think it’s going to be every fifth day instead of every sixth or seventh like it was toward the end of last year. And instead of three or four innings, it’ll be full, complete starts. I gotta do a good enough job to get into the seventh inning, but that option is at least going to be there. Feels good knowing that I’m not coming out after three."
It takes time to build up arm strength in the majors. The top 10 pitchers in innings in MLB's last pre-pandemic season had an average age over 30. All of them logged north of 200.0; only one of them was 25 or younger. The top 20 pitchers in innings last season had an average age of about 29. All of them logged at least 180.0; only two of them were 25 or younger. Mize finished with 150.1 innings, by far the most of his career. A substantial increase this season isn't necessarily a given.
But you can count on an increase in splitters. Mize used his signature pitch sparingly last season, just 13.2 percent of the time, often abandoning it early in games if he didn't like the first few he threw. But it remains his most dangerous offering and the key to improving his pedestrian whiff rates and strikeout rates, which can take Mize from dependable (3.71 ERA in 2021) to dominant. He plans to stay committed to the splitter in 2022.
"Trying to get the volume up on that pitch to get the true feel for it like I used to have," said Mize. "I gotta use it more so it’s more consistently coming out the way I want to, and I know if that happens the results are going to be there."
He also said he had a tendency to get under the pitch last season, which made it "sail a little bit and stay up in the zone and some hitters were able to do damage on it. I gotta stay on top of it and get it driving toward the plate like I normally do."
Other highlights from Mize's interview on 97.1 The Ticket:
On setting team expectations on the World Series: I think we need to be in a mindset that we want to win the World Series. That’s where we’re headed with this organization and we have to start thinking that way. You can’t think, 'We wanna lose, we wanna lose, we wanna lose,' and then all of a sudden, 'Nope, we wanna win.' You gotta start trending toward, ‘This is what we want.' And we gotta start striving for that. We’re in that position now. We gotta start thinking that way and having those conversations."
On Javier Baez: "I'm glad he’s on our team. I think he’s just an electric player. He’s going to be our shortstop for years to come. A.J. said it best: You can plug him into the lineup and at shortstop every day and that just makes our life easier. Happy to have him behind me and also looking forward to watching him hit a bunch of home runs."
On Jackson Jobe: "Everybody knows about the slider, man. It’s awesome, it really is. He’s got a great fastball, too. He’s going to have to put in the work and the time just like everybody, but I think he’s in an awesome position. We got a great staff around him and he’s really clicking with the guys so we're definitely happy to have him."