AUBURN, Ala. – Former Auburn pitcher and No. 1 overall draft pick Casey Mize has been named the No. 18 prospect in all of Major League Baseball according to Baseball America.
Mize is one of seven 2018 draft picks to crack the Baseball America Top 100 and the highest by 15 slots. Yet to throw a professional pitch, he is also the seventh-highest rated pitcher on the list and the highest rated player in the Tigers organization.
Less than 24 hours after helping lead Auburn to its first NCAA regional championship since 1999, Mize was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. He not only became the first No. 1 overall pick in program history, but also just the fifth in the history of the Southeastern Conference.
In 17 starts as a junior, Mize posted a 10-6 record and a 3.30 ERA en route to becoming just the second two-time All-American and consensus All-American in program history. He led the SEC and ranked third in the country with 156 strikeouts, which were also third most in a single season in program history.
Along with his strikeout total, Mize also led the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.75), strikeouts per nine innings (12.24) and WHIP (0.87).
He was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) District 3 Player of the Year and a finalist for both the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy presented to the best player in college baseball.
Mize capped off his three-year Auburn career with 324 strikeouts, registering fourth in program history.