Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick recovering from Tommy John surgery, stood on the mound in the bullpen before Wednesday’s game at Comerica Park.
Pitching coach Chris Fetter, video coordinator Austin Tripp and fellow pitcher Matt Manning watched from behind the mound, with Tripp’s iPad receiving pitch data from TrackMan technology. Assistant pitching coach Robin Lund and athletic trainer Ryne Eubanks watched from the side of the bullpen while standing on the warning track and peering through the fence.
Bullpen catcher Tim Remes crouched exactly 55 feet away from Mize.
“It’s been over a year,” Mize said in the Tigers’ clubhouse, following the 10-pitch short box bullpen session. “This is what I love to do. It’s good to get the first one down. I have about 100 of them to go.”
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A short box bullpen, as Mize explained, means the catcher is closer to the pitcher for the bullpen session.
In Mize’s case, Remes stationed himself in front of the plate at 55 feet from the mound, rather than the normal distance of 60 feet, 6 inches between the mound and the plate. The strain on the arm is reduced by reducing the distance, and typically, the pitcher focuses on delivery and location.
Mize threw 10 fastballs.
“I don’t know how hard I was throwing,” Mize said. “But I was throwing strikes.”
“Pitchers will tell you they need to get off the mound a little bit to feel like a pitcher again,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s one step of many steps he’s going to have to take, but I know he was looking forward to it. … I’m proud of him because he’s had to do a lot of work for multiple injuries, and it’s not easy, especially for him, mentally, because he’s so diligent in everything that he does.”
Mize underwent Tommy John surgery, the reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, on June 15, 2022. After that, the 26-year-old underwent back surgery to fix an issue he had been dealing with for years.
Early in spring training, Mize reviewed the projected schedule for his entire throwing program, but since then, he has taken a month-by-month approach to tackling the physical and mental hurdles.
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His process-oriented mindset hasn’t changed.
“Overcome the day, the week, the month,” Mize said, “and then move on to the next (month), and we’ll do the same thing. We’ve stacked some pretty good weeks and months on top of each other.”
Mize has been playing catch, also described as long toss, five times per week since mid-June. He recently received clearance to incorporate limited mound work into his regimen, which began Wednesday.
It was a small step, but an important step, in the lengthy recovery process.
“We got on the mound, threw heaters, everything felt good and feels normal,” Mize said. “Now we keep progressing to more pitches, and then we back the catcher up, and then we introduce offspeed stuff, and then breaking stuff. It’s climbing a ladder of adding all these new challenges and steps. Today was just another rung of that ladder and another thing to overcome.”
Aside from building arm strength, Mize has been working closely with Fetter, Lund and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves in search of becoming the best version of himself as a pitcher when he returns.
Mize, who owns a 4.29 ERA across 39 starts in his MLB career, views the rehabilitation process as a “unique time to get better” in all facets of pitching. He has implemented several drills into his routine over the past few months under the guidance of Fetter and Lund.
The drills are primarily focused on his delivery.
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“We’re right in the middle of that,” Mize said. “I’m starting to improve and pick up on things that I like. I’ll continue to do these drills probably forever. I’ll take one from here or two from here, whatever that is, and continue that throughout this process, obviously, and continue to do it beyond that.”
All season, Mize has been surrounded by his teammates and coaches while training at Comerica Park. Last week, Mize traveled with the Tigers to Minneapolis for the four-game series against the Minnesota Twins.
He is scheduled to travel with the Tigers again for the upcoming four-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. Dr. Keith Meister, the team physician for the Rangers, performed Mize’s elbow surgery.
They will check in with each other during the series.
“They made it pretty clear to me, no matter how well it’s going, we’re not deviating off of this,” Mize said, when asked about the regimented timeline of his program. “That is the doctor’s orders. That’s not anybody from the Tigers. That’s just how the rehab is done, from top to bottom.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.