Casey Mize


Casey A. Mize is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization. He was selected by the Tigers with the first overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. He played college baseball for the Auburn Tigers.

Amateur career

Mize attended Springville High School in Springville, Alabama. During his high school career, he went 19–2. He committed to Auburn University to play college baseball.
As a freshman in 2016, he appeared in 16 games with 7 starts and went 2–5 with a 3.52 earned run average and 59 strikeouts. After the 2016 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. As a sophomore in 2017, Mize pitched in 13 games with 12 starts, going 8–2 with a 2.04 ERA with 109 strikeouts and only nine walks. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team during the summer. Mize was named Auburn's opening day starter for the 2018 season. On March 9, 2018, Mize threw a no-hitter against the Northeastern Huskies, the ninth in program history.

Professional career

The Detroit Tigers selected Mize with the first overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. On June 25, 2018, Mize signed with the Tigers, featuring a $7.5 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Tigers of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. After one start, he was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. After compiling a combined 0–1 record with a 3.95 ERA in five starts between both teams, Mize was shut down for the rest of the season due to an innings limit.
In 2019, the Tigers invited Mize to spring training as a non-roster player. He returned to Lakeland to begin the 2019 season, and was their Opening Day starter. After making four starts for Lakeland with an 0.35 ERA, the Tigers promoted Mize to the Erie SeaWolves of the Class AA Eastern League. In his first start for Erie, he tossed a no-hitter, in which he hit a batter, walked another, and struck out seven on 98 pitches, in a 1–0 SeaWolves victory over the Altoona Curve. On June 15, Mize was placed on the 7-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.