In a game that featured 11 home runs, Casey Mize found a way to draw attention to the mound.MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect tossed two hitless innings with a walk and two strikeouts as the Tigers topped the Yankees, 15-11, on Thursday at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
In a game that featured 11 home runs, Casey Mize found a way to draw attention to the mound.
MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect tossed two hitless innings with a walk and two strikeouts as the Tigers topped the Yankees, 15-11, on Thursday at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
"I felt good about it," Mize said on the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast. "First inning was really crisp. Second inning, I walked [Gary] Sanchez, but we made a really nice play to turn a double play and I got [another] ground ball to get out of it, so I was pretty happy with it overall."
While Mize's arsenal is headlined by a 70-grade splitter, it was his cutter and new "slider/slurve" that helped the top Tigers prospect fool the Bronx Bombers.
With one out in the first, Gio Urshela worked the count full, but Mize kept with his plan.
"I thought he was sitting heater there, so I knew I needed to throw that cutter," he said on the broadcast. "I feel very confident throwing in the zone and getting some swings-and-misses on it as well. And I was fortunate enough to do that in that situation."
And when the ball was put in play, Mize forced three groundouts, avoiding the wind that grabbed hold of so many balls in the contest.
The Tigers starter was relieved by ninth-ranked Alex Faedo, who was tagged with two runs on two hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts without getting out of the third. Later in the game, Detroit's No. 2 prospect Matt Manning (1-0) blew the lead, but ended up getting the win. While his line wasn't clean -- four runs on four hits and a walk with two punchouts in two frames -- the No. 24 overall prospect had an encouraging outing, using his curveball and touching 100 mph on the radar gun.
"We're very close. There is a competition piece to that, but I think it's more just learning from each other and building off each other's success, because if we get to watch each other compete every night and do well, we want to do that the next day and give our team a chance to win," Mize said on the broadcast of being around so many top pitching prospects. "I'm not sure if it's so much about the first to Detroit or whatever. I think it's just, we want to be there all at one point. We all want to be there. So I think that's our goal and we're going to help each other as much as we can to make that happen."
Mize's batterymate, Jake Rogers, got in on the hit parade, drilling a solo shot in the sixth off Jordan Montgomery. Detroit's No. 10 prospect caught Mize for three starts with Double-A Erie last season, including when the right-hander threw a no-hitter in his Eastern League debut on April 29.
"The more we get connected and throw to each other, the more comfortable we're gonna get," Mize told FS-Detroit. "He's a familiar face back there so it was good [Thursday]."
Mize was not sure when he will pitch next, but after a spring-high two innings, he said he feels like "the body will bounce back pretty good."
Mets 7, Cardinals (ss) 7
New York farmhand Johneshwy Fargas hit for the cycle out of the ninth spot in the order as New York and St. Louis played to a tie in Palm Beach. Fargas, who went 4-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs, is in his first year in the Mets system after spending seven seasons with the Giants. The outfielder hit .249/.325/.334 for Double-A Richmond in 2019. Mets No. 10 prospect David Peterson worked around three walks and a hit in two scoreless innings. For the Cardinals, 19-year-old No. 2 prospect Nolan Gorman drew a walk and struck out in two plate appearances. The two clubs combined for 24 hits -- six of them homers. Box score
Padres 3, Mariners 0
No. 5 overall prospect MacKenzie Gore needed only eight pitches to complete a 1-2-3 seventh in his spring debut for San Diego. The left-hander got Kyle Seager to ground out to first, Austin Nola to pop out to first and Collin Cowgill to ground out to shortstop. No. 16 Padres prospect Reggie Lawson followed with a one-hit eighth in which he struck out two. Fifth-ranked Taylor Trammell went down looking in his only at-bat. Box score
Twins 3, Orioles 3
Minnesota's No. 2 prospect Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-2 with a solo home run to extend Minnesota's lead to 3-1 in the ninth. The club's top prospect Royce Lewis singled once in three at-bats. No. 12 Brent Rooker singled in his lone plate appearance and No. 15 Gilberto Celestino added an RBI single in the fourth. Top Orioles prospect Adley Rutschman delivered a pinch-hit single for his first hit of the spring. No. 11 Keegan Akin started and allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out two over 2 2/3 innings. Ninth-ranked Dean Kremer allowed three hits and struck out one over two scoreless innings of relief. No. 12 Hunter Harvey allowed one hit and struck out one in his lone frame out of the bullpen. Box score
Astros 5, Red Sox 0
Houston's No. 5 prospect Bryan Abreu fanned four and scattered two hits over two scoreless innings for the victorious visitors. The right-hander has struck out 12 while allowing only three hits and two walks over 6 2/3 scoreless innings this spring. Boston's No. 13 prospect C.J. Chatham picked up his first single of the spring and is 1-for-11 (.091) through six games. Box score
Phillies 5, Blue Jays 3
Entering in the fourth, Cole Irvin notched one strikeout in two perfect frames. Philadelphia's No. 22 prospect is 2-0 in Grapefruit League action. No. 30 overall prospect Alec Bohm went 1-for-3 while getting the start at third. Blue Jays No. 24 prospect Thomas Hatch fanned Nick Maton in a 1-2-3 seventh. Box score
White Sox 7, Rockies (ss) 6
Chicago's farm system stuffed the box score, with six of its seven runs scored by ranked prospects. Second-ranked Andrew Vaughn went 0-for-2 but drew a leadoff walk and scored in the second, plated by No. 25 Danny Mendick, who finished 3-for-3 with three singles. Fourth-ranked Nick Madrigal was hit by a pitch during a four-run fifth and came home on a single by Adam Engel. No. 9 Luis Alexander Basabe and No. 10 Zack Collins each singled once, while No. 17 Zack Burdi struck out the side in a one-hit seventh. Top Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers singled twice in his first game action since a shoulder injury shut him down for the second half of last season. Ninth-ranked Sam Hilliard hit his second homer of the spring, a two-run shot to right field in the third. No. 11 Yonathan Daza, No. 16 Niko Decolati and No. 18 Josh Fuentes each collected singles. No. 19 Tommy Doyle threw a hitless eighth. Box score
Brewers 6, Reds 4
Top Brewers prospect Brice Turang flied out to left in his only at-bat, but No. 3 Mario Feliciano reached on a fielder's choice and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh before singling in the ninth. No. 26 Lucas Erceg knocked in the game's final run with a groundout that inning against No. 9 Reds prospect Tony Santillan, who gave up the lone run on two hits while fanning two in one frame. Cincinnati's fourth-ranked prospect Jonathan India snapped his 0-for-13 start to Cactus League play with a single in the seventh. No. 17 Alfredo Rodriguez also singled. Box score
Rangers 5, Cubs 0
Texas' No. 25 prospect Jonathan Hernández started and allowed two hits and one walk while striking out four over three shutout innings. Eighth-ranked Anderson Tejeda walked and scored on a passed ball in the third and ripped a two-RBI single and scored on a two-run single by No. 5 Nick Solak in the fourth. Solak went 2-for-4. Fourth-ranked Cubs prospect Miguel Amaya went 1-for-2. No. 23 prospect James Norwood started and walked one in a scoreless first. Oscar De La Cruz allowed one hit and struck out one in two innings out of the bullpen. Box score
Indians 7, Giants 1
Twelfth-ranked Cleveland prospect Bobby Bradley went 2-for-2 with an RBI double and scored twice. The 23-year-old lefty is batting .368 (7-for-19) in the Cactus League. No. 13 prospect Daniel Johnson finished 1-for-2 with an RBI. Jose Tena (No. 20) went 1-for-2 in his first Spring Training action and 28th-ranked Ernie Clement chipped in an RBI single in the Indians' three-run eighth. Right-hander James Karinchak (No. 14) issued a walk while punching out three in an inning of relief, while No. 18 Scott Moss walked a pair with three strikeouts across two frames. For the Giants, No. 14 overall prospect Joey Bart walked in his only at-bat. Box score
A's 5, Dodgers 1
No. 12 Oakland prospect James Kaprielian whiffed two in a 1-2-3 eighth and 16th-ranked Grant Holmes scattered two hits while striking out three in the ninth as the A's extended their win streak to seven straight in the Cactus League. No. 18 Dodgers prospect Edwin Ríos went 1-for-3. Brett de Geus (No. 29) yielded a hit in one frame of relief to lower his ERA to 1.59 across 5 1/3 innings. Box score
Rockies (ss) 9, Royals 1
Colorado's No. 11 prospect Yonathan Daza contributed an RBI single and scored on Nolan Arenado's homer in a seven-run second. Daza also drew a walk in the sixth. The 26-year-old outfielder has been hot after a difficult Major League debut last year, batting .375 with five RBIs in 24 at-bats this spring. Box score
Cardinals (ss) 11, Nationals 0
Several of St. Louis' top youngsters took center stage against Washington. Top prospect Dylan Carlson singled twice, walked and scored a run. Baseball's 17th-ranked prospect is batting .417 with four extra-base hits and six walks in 30 Grapefruit League plate appearances. Cardinals No. 6 prospect Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer and No. 17 Justin Williams also went deep, his second of the spring. Zack Thompson (No. 5) and Jake Woodford (No. 12) combined for one strikeout over two scoreless frames. Nationals No. 29 prospect Jhonatan German struck out one in a perfect inning of relief. Box score
