How Casey Mize reclaimed his splitter and reasserted himself in the Tigers rotation

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SEATTLE — Casey Mize never wanted to use the injuries as an excuse. Never wanted to use the fact he had Tommy John surgery and a back procedure to linger even long after his rehab was complete.

But here now, after throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners and looking more authoritative than ever while doing it, the difference seems clear. 

Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park, Mize’s stuff was dancing like never before. A power fastball. A useful slider. And, yes, a splitter that finally looked like the calling card it was billed to be all those years ago.

Mize laid out the edict early in spring training. To be his best and make the Detroit Tigers’ rotation — to reassert himself as a starting pitcher with frontline potential — he would need to lean on the weapon that once made him an irresistible prospect

“I haven’t used (the splitter) as much, to be honest,” Mize said. “I think I need to get back to using it a lot.”

As for why the splitter that once made him a top draft pick had abandoned him? 

“When I was dealing with my back stuff, it kind of changed the way that I moved,” Mize said Tuesday night. “I had some nerve pain that was shooting down my left leg. I couldn’t brace very well.”

As Mize struggled to apply the brakes and generate force from the ground, his arm action also suffered. He struggled to get on top of the ball. A splitter that was supposed to be a devastating vertical grenade often morphed into a horizontal changeup. Worse, Mize couldn’t always command it. He left splitters up and watched as hitters whacked them deep into the outfield. He spiked balls in the dirt or sprayed them from side to side. The splitter for his career had a minus-3 run value. 

“My body was dictating the way that I moved, which then is going to dictate the way the ball comes out of your hand,” Mize said.

Mize has talked about some of this before. His surgeries cost him all of the 2023 season. But even when he was fully healthy last year, finding his rhythm on the mound was a fight. “He never really felt like he had everything in the same game or everything for a stretch of time,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. 

As he battled against habits he formed while dealing with the back issue, some days the slider worked, but the splitter did not. In some games, the fastball was on point, but his secondary stuff was nowhere to be found. He didn’t strike out enough hitters, and he didn’t miss enough bats. He threw more strikes than ever and grinded through outings anyway. 

“I feel like I made some good progress on the way I was moving on the mound,” Mize said. “Then I just think the mentality and some conviction was the last thing to come.” 

Casey Mize you are NASTY
pic.twitter.com/7mHlx6iJh2

— Barstool Detroit (@BSMotorCity) April 2, 2025

Mize entered this year’s spring training on the roster bubble. He ended it with a spot in the Tigers’ rotation and potent enough stuff to leave everyone wondering just how good he could be. In his first start of the season Tuesday, Mize only amplified that question. He held the Mariners to only one hit and no runs. As his team scored early against formidable Seattle starter Logan Gilbert, Mize struck out six batters and generated 15 whiffs. One-third of those whiffs came on his signature pitch. Mariners batters swung at seven Mize splitters. They caught nothing but air on five of them.

Ever the perfectionist, he still shrugged after the game. 

“It was better to the lefties than it was to the righties tonight,” Mize said. “It was a little bit gloveside to the righties. That’s something I’m gonna have to work on on between starts.” 

Indeed, all the splitter whiffs came against left-handed hitters. Still, Hinch emphasised before the game the importance of Mize using his entire arsenal. Mize largely accomplished that mission. After missing high with his traditional slider early, he leaned more on his new slider with more depth. He commanded the fastball. And then there was the splitter. Perhaps it is wrong to focus only on the one offering after such a well-rounded outing. But an alternative view? Maybe one pitch allowed all his alluring spare parts to finally click.

“He pounded the strike zone,” Hinch said. “He had the split going. He had both variations of the slider. The fastball got pretty good, and he was pretty pitch efficient. You throw all that together in the same game, and you get this kind of performance.”

The splitter has improved for a few reasons. First, Mize began throwing the pitch harder last September and saw tastes of success. His arm angle has risen from earlier in his career, allowing him to throw the ball with more force and downward action. Mize’s splitter on Tuesday averaged 88.5 mph and topped out at 90.4. Last season, the pitch averaged only 86.2 mph.

“In the offseason, I went to Driveline, went to Maven, got some feedback from the Tigers, and we were just like, ‘We think this pitch is good when you throw it hard,’” Mize said. “Now it’s just trying to throw it hard, and I can do that because my body is allowing me to get in better positions than I was. The movement profile is the best it’s been. I’m not even caring about that, but it is.”

Mize is even pleased with his misses. Since the start of spring, his splitters have largely stayed down and over the plate, still quality pitches capable of drawing a swing and miss or setting up what comes next. 

“It’s not the spike and the sail,” he said. 

Ever the student of the game, Mize often compares and learns from other splitters in the league. In spring, he talked about Kevin Gausman. Now he’s mentioning Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi.

“When I watch him pitch, I love how it’s a really firm fastball and splits that are really firm,” Mize said. “He doesn’t use that pitch as a changeup. It’s just another power pitch. I think when I’m at my best I just have that powerful feel with that pitch.”

Mize looked as powerful as he ever has in the major leagues on Tuesday. Yes, he was playing in a pitcher’s park. And yes, he was facing a Mariners lineup that isn’t exactly a behemoth. Mize took care of business appropriately. 

“When we got the lead, we felt like we had a bigger lead just because of the way Casey was throwing,” Hinch said. 

Entering his final inning Tuesday, Mize had retired 14 straight batters. He walked nine-hole hitter J.P. Crawford, but Spencer Torkelson then made a diving catch to snare a Victor Robles liner and double Crawford up at first. Mize’s night ended after another sixth-inning walk, his command beginning to lapse as he crossed the 80-pitch mark. 

As Hinch ventured to the mound and took the ball, he made a point to offer a few words of affirmation.

“Listen, he’s so hard on himself,” Hinch explained afterward. “He’s a perfectionist. I don’t like disappointing him by taking him out of the game. But I wanted to remind him that was a huge performance for us against a really good pitcher where runs were going to be at a premium.”

The Tigers earned a 4-1 victory. Mize finished with one of the best outings of his career. And on the heels of a convincing spring, he did so in a fashion that makes you wonder what else might be in store. 

(Photo: Stephen Brashear / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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