The Tigers are shutting down former first-overall selection and top pitching prospect Casey Mize, per Jason Beck of MLB.com. While he’s out of commission, he’ll remain with the Double-A Erie Seawolves before reporting to instructional league in mid-September.
As Beck notes, no one injury motivated the Tigers’ decision; rather the organization would prefer to take a cautious approach with its top minor-leaguer, who is playing in just his first professional season. While he did make a stint on the injured list with shoulder inflammation earlier this season, today’s decision is unrelated. Indeed, this looks to be in hopes of preventing injury, rather than reacting to one.
Mize finishes his first full professional season with 109 2/3 innings under his belt between High-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. After breezing through the low minors and earning himself a promotion to Double-A—where he threw a no-hitter in his first game—Mize has encountered some difficulty of late, possibly as a consequence of a building workload. While the Tigers weren’t restricting their crown jewel to a definitive innings limit, Beck notes that Tigers officials felt that, in recent viewings, Mize wasn’t as sharp as he had been throughout the year, leading them to shut the righty down for the final two weeks of the minor-league season.
Last season, in his draft year, Mize accumulated nearly 130 innings pitched between his time at Auburn University and a partial season in the low minors.
In his first full season as a professional, Mize made 21 starts, going 8-3 with a 2.55 ERA across two levels of the minors. He struck out 106 batters compared to just 23 walks, good for for a 4.6 K:BB ratio.
The 2018 first overall pick is regarded by many to be the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, including MLB Pipeline, which regards Mize as the second-ranked overall prospect. Already a relatively polished product, it seems like a solid bet that Mize could be pitching in Comerica Park at this time next year.
Wow
That is so insightful. I’m glad you took the time to share that wonderful knowledge with us all.
And here ladies and gentlemen is a great example of “man screams at clouds”
No that would be below. This was an example or me being a smart aleck for no good reason.
and here we find the most useful conversation ever.
Lol!!!!!
Badda
Bing!
Maybe he genuinely felt
amazed!!?? People feel
that way sometimes.
Can you please go back
to beating whatever small
animal you own?
Though I refuse to condone it…..
Excellent hammering of a useless comment. Thank you.
wow
Wow
Just another case of babying a pitcher. He’ll be out with Tommy John within 2 seasons. Just let these guys pitch normal seasons and he can naturally build up arm strength. The human body has not changed in the past 50-60 years, so why are pitchers unable to do what they did 50-60 years ago? Or even 20-30 years ago. I don’t have all of the answers, but I can recognize that when injuries are increasing then perhaps we are not doing things better than before.
Why do MLB teams pay large salaries to executives when they can get brilliant, free, insightful and flawless expertise right here?
Because they have expensive degrees from Ivy League schools and I don’t. My BA in history from Eastern Kentucky University is practically worthless and my mobility issues make a job requiring travel pretty difficult. But that doesn’t mean that I am bereft of insight. If you are one of those people that require someone giving you answers to have a large salary or have half the alphabet after their name, then by all means go to them.
But in fairness, those types of people aren’t likely to be talking to you or me. So I guess you’ll just have to deal with me in the meantime. Sorry to disappoint.
But you’re not bitter!
Guys throw harder and are built different than they were 20-30 years ago, when your team is rebuilding and aren’t competing for anything it makes no sense to push their number 1 prospect in his first year of pro ball. He threw a lot and progressed throughout the year, what’s 2 or 3 more starts going to do this year? The answer is probably nothing, shut him down send him to the Arizona fall league where he will compete with and against some of the best minor leaguers out there. Invite him to spring training then do what all other teams do send him down for 3 weeks to gain that extra year of control then stick him in the rotation. The tigers still aren’t going to compete next year so it’s wise to send him down to AAA gain the extra year of control then call him back up. The kid is going to be a stud, he reminds me of mike soroka as far as command and more than 2 above average to plus pitches. He will be the ace of the tigers for the next decade plus
He’s not bitter. Just a bit salty.
Nice use of the word “bereft”. Well done.
Actually in my Korea, average human head size is increasing a lot. Many think it’s because overwhelming majority of births in Korea are c-section.
This does not relate to baseball and I apologize for my contribution.
Where did that come from!!??
I am truly amazed!
WOW!
Well that was random. Good info though.
With all the science and knowledge in the game now about arm care we’re definitely doing things better than before. The difference is pitchers are on an intense year long program and that will take a toll on anyone’s arm. Throwing a baseball is not something the human body was meant to do. The tigers have no reason to stretch mize to the limits right now.
I ask once again, if we are doing things better, then why are results not better?
It’s not about MIze specifically. The Tigers are just doing what they think is right. It’s their call, I just think it is the wrong call.
The results aren’t better because the workload up to the start of a player’s professional debut has increased. Even in my day, and I’m 29, you played Little League until you were 13, then High School baseball, then College baseball if you went to college. During the Summer/Winter in high school you took a break, and in college you only played during the college baseball season.
Nowadays kids are not only playing Little League, High School baseball and College baseball, they’re playing travel ball and Cape Cod League baseball when kids in my day were resting their bodies.
Prospects now have 2 or 3 times more mileage on their bodies than they did when I was growing up. There’s been a lot more ligament damage over the last decade, and I’m not really seeing an explanation other than an increase in velocity.
Or you don’t play little league or high school ball, go to a place called IMG every summer, get a full college scholarship and play there.
No politics, stop with the TDS
orange fan sad
you’ve heard of the whole “pitchers throw harder/faster” thing, right?
@darkside Yeah because guys didn’t throw near 100 mph in the past. It’s not that all of a sudden everyone throws hard it’s in the past you had to know how to pitch regardless of your velocity. In today’s game a guy can make it to the majors with a great fastball and one below average second pitch. The question is valid. Why aren’t guys throwing 200 + innings and avoiding arm problems?
What happened to the workhorses of yesteryear? It’s all about fluid motion. Watch Nolan Ryan throw and even though he was a reliever watch Mariano Rivera throw. So fluid and wonderful to watch. No herky-jerky. That’s why both guys lasted many many years.
I couldn’t agree more.
Smaller fields, better balls with minimal seams, smaller foul territory, fearless hitters with padded protection all over their body, no-nonsense umpires handing out warnings, smaller strike zones.
Definitely a case of babying pitchers. We can’t sight a real example where shutting down arms have shown health benefits.
The human body has absolutely changed in the last 50-60 years. The average American male in 1960 was 5’8” and 166 lbs. The average American male in 2019 is 5’9” and 197 lbs.
Pro athletes don’t have average bodies, either. They are the outliers, and they’ve gotten bigger too. There weren’t any 350-lb. linemen in the NFL 50-60 years ago. Wilt Chamberlain was a freak of nature, and now every NBA team has several guys 6’10” and taller on the roster. MLB is no different…every single pitcher now throws serious heat, but 50-60 years ago if you had a guy on the roster who threw 95 he was a total anomaly.
Look around. We’re fatter not stronger and better shape. Wheat Belly.
Fair argument for the general population.
Now look around at professional athletes. The average athlete in any sport is absolutely bigger, stronger, and in better shape than the average athlete used to be.
Yes true. Because the population is growing there’s more of a challenge to a roster spot. You’ve got to be bigger and stronger and better as an athlete to make it today. More competition. Good point.
They throw a lot harder.
They throw sliders.
They put more stress
in their arms.
Problem recognized…..
Sliders were invented 20 years ago? Could’ve sworn that pitch has been in existence for maybe 100 years, give or take a decade.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Did you just say the human body hasn’t changed in the last 50 years??
Pitchers throw a lot harder than they used to.
Conspiracy theorist think it has to do with diet. The consumption of beef & chicken products are filled with steroids & additives which can cause problems with the natural growing process of bones & tissues making them more susceptible to injuries. I am not attributing all these injuries to diet but the food chain has been compromised for over 30 years. Before TJ surgery, many pitchers were sidelined with Rotator Cuff injuries or had elbow issues but you just didn’t hear about it.
If you think the human body is the same as it was back in the 50s-60, you’re an absolute idiot. Superior athleticism, heigh and average weight has increased, though you can base those off food supply. The issue is there guys have terrible mechanics, are always trying to throw 100mph, being ridden to death in high school/college.
You’re exactly right. The human body hasn’t changed, but the physical conditioning and pitch usage has. People didn’t throw as many high 80s-90s mph sliders 5o years ago either. Maybe, just maybe, as the game adapts, we have to adapt with it?
As a Seawolves fan from Erie this is disappointing. The team has nearly clinched a spot in the playoffs, and watching Mize and Manning pitch is what we want. Our offensive numbers are well… offensive, pitching is what brought this team to life in the 2nd half. More of a future move, and completely understandable but we want to see these guys win. It’s why we go to the games.
You think it’s about helping the minor league clubs win?
HAHAHAHAHA!
Mize was hurt all through college. This should have been expected. Hes good, just not a huge innings eater. Let him pitch his 100 innings and build up to 150 over time.
worth it id say. no need to rush the guy.
Not worth it. Not even close.
Who cares? Matt Manning is much better anyway.
No idea why Mize gets all the attention.
The man just got there. Can we please stop anointing players
“top prospect” before they have
done anything!!??
We will, as soon as
you stop
using unnecessary line skips. This
aint typing 101.
Well what else would he be? He’s not an MLB pitcher, but hes one of MILB’s better pitchers.
Burrows shut down; Perez shut down; Mize shut down – a bunch of sore arms to join Fulmer – is Manning next? – this is bright future Al touts!
They have to baby their arms. It is pretty much all they have.
Not every high prospect makes it. I’ve seen this before and I don’t take much stock in the media guides. I remember the Tiger rebuild in earnest during the mid 1970’s. They had the best pitching prospects in MLB then too, according to the media. Pat Underwood, Sheldon Burnside, George Cappuzello, Dennis DeBarr, Kip Young, Steve Baker, Dave Tobik, Mike Burns… all aces of the future. From that group, only Dave Rozema and Dan Petry made an impact. The best pitchers didn’t play much in the minors. Mark Fydrich and Jack Morris weren’t part of that group but they were rushed to service. In fact, Morris had terrible numbers in the minors
Casy Mize may never be an ace… nor any of the Tigers hopefuls we always hear about Its more likely it will be someone we never pay much attention to.
One huge difference, Underwood was the only first rounder among that group. For the current roster, we are talking about 4 first rounders (including Manning). There is noway the Tigers can afford to miss on high draft choices and expect to rebuild, Al.
Guys throw harder today? I don’t think any of these guys could throw like Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens(roids or not) Verlander in his first 5 years? How about Sandy Koufax and many more in the 50’s and 60’s? Countless more in decades prior to that. How about Walter Johnson that was known to be an audio experience because you only saw a blur when he pitched? The notion that guys are pitching harder today is based on folklore to make up for 9-10 year old kids throwing 600 curveballs when at 9 years old, they should only be taught two basic pitches. Fastball and knuckleball so all that wear and tear is kept off those growing arms and ligaments. Then by the time they hit high school, they’ve already even damaged in little league and middle school by coaches that over pitch and push breaking balls on young arms. Then if they withstand all this torture, high school and college teams finish wrecking their arms by pitching them entirely too much! It speaks volumes when these guys are drafted and before they usually get a month into pro ball they’re getting TJ surgery! Two years later they put them on a pitch limit, innings limit and shut them down if they even have a blister. That’s the difference between then and now. Kids should be exactly that, a kid with growing bones and muscles. Not a machine to push on the mound every two days and blow their arm up all while you’re trying to live out your childhood through their torture. I know so many will disagree with this but I’m speaking out of over thirty years of playing and twenty years of coaching. I’ve watched so many young arms destroyed by these tactics, it’s amazing someone doesn’t start regulating it better.
I don’t know the answer to longevity and good health.
I read that by the time that the O’s SP Ben McDonald made it to MLB, he had “already been used up”. I heard something to that effect about MIL’s SP Ben Sheets too. Conversely, I think that shutting down Stephen Strasburg prior to the post season was detrimental too.
Can someone who thinks they shouldn’t shut him down give me one good reason why throwing an extra 30 innings at a level he has already proven he can dominate will help his development for next season?
Work on secondary pitches during the 30 inning span to improve command, location and consistency. Can’t simply do that in side sessions.
Mize will probably spend 2020 at AAA Toledo.
No need to rush him.
2021 or 2022 would be the smart money bet for his 1st major league season.
Why burn his service time on a last place rebuilding ballclub going nowhere for at least a couple of years?!
don’t expect him to show up and be lights out, he could need a few MLB seasons to….season.