With a $7.5 million signing bonus, Mize started with the Gulf Coast Tigers in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He was soon promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Advanced Florida State League. In 2019, the Detroit Tigers invited him to spring training, though he would stay with Lakeland for the 2019 season. He then was quickly promoted to the Erie Seawolves. In 2020 he was promoted to the major leagues. He made his debut with the Tigers against the Chicago White Sox; and there, on September 11, 2020, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the White Sox, until it was ruined by Yolmer Sanchez. Mize was showing the Tigers exactly why he was a good draft pick.
In 2021, Mize would be put on the starting rotation for the Tigers in the 2021 season. April 12, 2021, has Mize winning his first major league game against the Houston Astros. Mize threw seven scoreless innings which lead to a 6-2 Tigers’ victory. On August 24, he made his debut as a batter against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mize would also win that game with five scoreless innings. Mize’s ability to achieve so many scoreless innings likely ended many games before they even started.
Casey Mize is an exceptional baseball player, showing signs of success from an early stage in his career. His 2022 season has been put on hold since a lockout has been put in place, but there is no doubt that he will do just as good when the season resumes. Casey Mize is one of the many smaller aspects of history that can be found in small town Alabama, areas that often get overlooked. Being from Springville myself, it was interesting to learn of someone in a professional baseball league that was from the same small town I grew up in.
Additional Information:
Author
Andrew Wood is a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has a major in history and seeks to continue his education at a seminary for theological education. He was born in Mobile, Alabama but was raised in Springville, Alabama. He enjoys reading, video games, hiking, and skateboarding. |