DETROIT – Casey Mize, the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, bounced back from a rough start, firing six shutout innings for the Detroit Tigers' Double-A affiliate.
Mize was recently elevated to the No. 6 overall prospect in baseball during MLB Pipeline's quarter-season re-ranking. He sits behind four position players already in the majors and only one minor leaguer: Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco.
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The first start as MLB's No. 1 pitching prospect didn't go well by Mize's standards. Despite striking out eight Richmond Flying Squirrels, he allowed a pair of home runs and four earned on six hits and two walks.
It was Mize's worst start in eight outings this season, though he still nearly went six innings and generated 14 swinging strikes. Those were also the first home runs Mize had allowed this season.
The No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft bounced back Monday, shutting out the Hartford Yard Goats over six innings while allowing just three hits and one walk. Mize whiffed six batters and got 15 swinging strikes.
The overall stats are still excellent for Mize. He's the proud owner of a sparking 1.11 ERA, 0.547 WHIP and an elite 54/6 strikeout-to-walk rate. Out of the 200 batters he has faced this season -- 85 in Single-A Lakeland and 115 in Double-A Erie -- only 34 have reached base.
Since his no-hitter April 29 in his first Double-A start, Mize has allowed just six earned runs while striking out 22 batters in 21.2 innings. Hitters have a .598 OPS against him over those four starts while swinging and missing at 14 percent of his pitches.
Even though Mize hasn't been quite as dominant over the last couple of weeks, that says more about the standard he has set than his actual results. In reality, Mize has continued to be one of the best pitchers at any level of baseball since joining the SeaWolves.
While Mize isn't expected to join the MLB roster this season, he certainly could earn another promotion to Triple-A Toledo if he continues to baffle Double-A hitters. His next start should come Sunday against the Bowie Baysox.
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