Casey

Mize

Casey Mize averaged 93 mph on his fastball and topped out at 94.8 mph during the 55-pitch outing, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck. He finished with five strikeouts and only issued one walk. He’ll likely require at least one additional tune-up outing to continue building up his pitch count before returning to Detroit’s rotation.

Mize has been on the injured list since May 28 due to right adductor inflammation — the second time this season that same injury has put him on the shelf. He’s only expected to need one tune-up in the minors before being ready to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation. With Mize, Justin Verlander and Tarik Skubal all nearing returns, the Tigers’ rotation is going to get awfully crowded in a couple of weeks.

This will push his return well into June, potentially towards the end of the month. Mize has been on the IL twice this year with the same injury and the Tigers will likely be cautious with him to make sure he’s okay. He’s not a must-hold in shallow leagues.

The Tigers had been hopeful that Mize would be able to avoid a return trip to the injured list after leaving Wednesday’s start with another groin issue, but they’ll take the cautious approach and sit him down to make sure it heals properly. Beau Brieske was activated from the 60-day injured list to take his place on the active roster on Friday.

It’s reportedly the same injury that caused Mize to be placed on the injured list in late April. Mize didn’t think the injury was as severe as it was last time, but Hinch said he didn’t “really have a gut feeling” on how much time Mize would miss. It sounds like an return stint on the IL isn’t out of the question. Drew Anderson could be a short-term solution for the rotation.

It sounds like Mize’s early departure was precautionary in nature, but he’ll undergo further evaluation, and possibly imaging, to determine the severity of the issue. The 29-year-old missed two weeks with groin tightness earlier this month. He left the contest with a trainer after reeling off four shutout innings with six strikeouts against the Angels. He’s obviously in jeopardy of missing his next scheduled start against the Rays on Monday. There should be an update on his status at some point later this week.

Mize walked off the mound extremely slowly at the conclusion of the fourth inning and didn’t come back out for the fifth. He was shown leaving Detroit’s dugout accompanied by a trainer. He struck out six and allowed just three baserunners over four shutout frames. It’s worth noting that he was in just his third start back from the injured list after missing time with a groin strain. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

Mize allowed four hits, walked none and struck out four in the 95-pitch outing. It’s his second quality start since coming off the IL, but he remains stuck on two wins in spite of a 2.47 ERA and a 43/11 K/BB through eight starts. He’ll face the Angels next week.

Mize looked extremely impressive in his return to Detroit’s rotation, limiting Toronto’s formidable lineup to just a pair of hits while inducing some ugly looking swings. He generated 10 swinging strikes, with half of those coming on his slider, and needed an economical 71 pitches (51 strikes) to navigate six innings. Clearly, the Tigers didn’t want to push him from a workload and stamina perspective in his return from the injured list, which is why he didn’t work deeper into this contest. He’s compiled an impressive 2.43 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 39/11 K/BB ratio across 37 innings over seven starts this season. He’ll face the Guardians his next time out on Thursday.

Mize returns to Detroit’s injury-ravaged rotation to take the ball against the Blue Jays during Saturday afternoon’s matinee affair following a two-week absence recovering from an adductor strain. The 29-year-old righty looked outstanding in his first couple starts prior to the injury, posting a sparkling 2.90 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 35/11 K/BB ratio across 31 innings of work.