Tigers' Mize captures first weekly award

Just three starts into his first full season, Casey Mize has captured his first Minor League accolade.

The Tigers' top prospect was named the Florida State League's Pitcher of the Week on Monday after allowing one hit over seven innings for Class A Advanced Lakeland last Wednesday.

Mize, 21, struck out six and walked one in a no-decision against Palm Beach on April 17, lowering his ERA to 0.50 in 18 innings. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 Draft out of Auburn had allowed just one run on five hits over his first 11 frames of 2019.

"Casey's a well, well-matured kid. He knows what he wants," Lakeland pitching coach Jorge Cordova told MiLB.com after the game. "He has the whole package to be a big league pitcher."

Mize's last outing marked a career high for him in pitches, with 82. He threw 53 for strikes and faced one batter over the minimum.

"If his pitch [limit] was a little bit higher, he would have went eight or nine innings today," Cordova said. "He was very effective. He was working ahead in the count. He was attacking the zone. He was using excellent sequences. The hitters couldn't figure him out. He was unpredictable."

Few so far in Florida have been able to figure out the 6-foot-3 righty, who held Tampa to one hit while striking out eight over five innings on April 4 before limiting Clearwater to a run on four hits over six frames on April 9. The Alabama native has walked just one better this season.

• View the Offensive Player of the Week winners »

Detroit threw its prized Draft pick into the Minors last summer, giving him a quick taste of professional baseball with the GCL Tigers before sending him to Lakeland for four starts. In 13 2/3 innings over five games, Mize struck out 14 and walked three while hitting two batters and allowed six runs on 13 hits. None of his 2018 outings lasted more than three innings.

Mize was a two-time All-American at Auburn. He went 10-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 17 starts last season before the Draft.

Below is the complete list of Minor League Pitchers of the Week for April 15-21:

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Mitch Keller	Indianapolis	PIT	1-0, 0.79 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 11 1/3 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 BB, 13 K
Pacific Coast	Austin Gomber	Memphis	STL	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Eastern	James Marvel	Altoona	PIT	1-0, 0.82 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 SHO, 11 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Southern	Trey Supak	Biloxi	MIL	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Texas	Ofreidy Gomez	Northwest Arkansas	KC	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 7 K
California	Cole Stapler	Visalia	ARI	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
Carolina	Tyler Phillips	Down East	TEX	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Florida State	Casey Mize	Lakeland	DET	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Midwest	Shawn Dubin	Quad Cities	HOU	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
South Atlantic	Ryan Rolison	Asheville	COL	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K