DETROIT -- Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has talked for weeks about watching Casey Mize's innings for a stretch. On Friday, as Mize ended his third inning by striking out Yasmani Grandal on a nasty curveball, the plan became operational. His 56th pitch was his last of the night.
From a competitive standpoint, the early hook had little impact on Friday’s 8-2 loss to the White Sox at Comerica Park. A two-run opening inning put Chicago in front for good, and a five-run ninth off Detroit’s bullpen put the game out of reach. In the big picture, the Tigers are hoping two or three short starts will allow the Tigers to keep Mize in their rotation into the stretch run without risking injury.
It’s a decision Mize understands, even as it defies his instincts.
“I really take pride in getting as many outs as possible, going deep into the game and allowing as few runs as possible,” Mize said. “I think those are the two most important things a pitcher can do, so it’s frustrating when you can’t get as many outs as possible. But this is just a unique situation that I’m on board with what we’re doing.”
The Tigers have been discussing since Spring Training how to handle their young starters and their innings jump from last year’s lost Minor League season and abbreviated big league schedule. Mize threw 28 1/3 innings for Detroit last year, not including his work in Summer Camp or intrasquad games at the alternate site in Toledo, Ohio. Normally, the Tigers aim for a 20 percent jump in innings from year to year, but this was never going to be a normal season despite the return to a 162-game schedule. Mize’s three innings Friday put him at 91 1/3 innings this season.
The Tigers already limited Tarik Skubal’s innings early this season, pitching him out of the bullpen for two appearances over two weeks in April. They had ideas for Mize, but his roll of dominant starts in May and June was too good to interrupt.
“Skubal was really grinding when we moved him to the 'pen, so that was a little performance-based, a little proactive on the innings total, and just to give him a different look at the time,” Hinch said. “And he took off after that.”
They’ve limited young starters around the All-Star break before. Rick Porcello went two weeks between starts as a rookie in 2009, and Michael Fulmer was skipped for a turn in June and July during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016. The team wanted to keep Mize on his schedule and between-starts regimen, much like Daniel Norris did in 2019 and Fulmer last year in their first seasons back from injuries.
“His bullpen [session] is the same. His weightlifting is the same. His training regimen is the same,” Hinch said. “We’re just reducing volume during the start days. If you start skipping starts and giving long gaps in between, there’s a real danger there in getting hot and getting cold and having a long stretch in between. ...
“Our belief is that keeping him in his normal routine is better for his long-term health and short-term health. We also want those three innings.”
For a moment, lasting three innings was looking like a challenge for Mize for competitive reasons. He fell behind five of six hitters in a 27-pitch first inning that included two ground balls with exit velocities of 108 mph, then gave up a Brian Goodwin RBI triple on a 3-1 pitch.
Still, Mize found some success with his fastball, including a 96 mph heater on the outer edge that froze José Abreu. After Adam Eaton singled leading off the second inning, Mize settled down with a Jake Burger double-play grounder and a Danny Mendick strikeout. A third-inning walk to Gavin Sheets became harmless with another strikeout of Abreu, this time on a 95 mph fastball at the knees, and Grandal’s strikeout on the curve.
“It’s just as simple as getting ahead in counts,” Mize said. “Just falling behind way too much in the first led to some fastball counts that they were able to put good swings on some pitches.”
Mize will get another short outing next week at Texas in his final start before the break, though he may be named an All-Star. He could get another short start after the break depending on how the Tigers line up their rotation. They could also put Skubal on a similar stretch -- he’s at 77 2/3 innings entering his start Saturday -- but they’d rather not have both limited at the same time.
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July 03, 2021 at 11:07AM
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