AUBURN, Ala. – "A 15-strikeout night for Casey Mize."
That was the call from Andy Burcham after Mize threw his 15th strikeout to close out a 4-1 victory over Vanderbilt in the first of a three-game homestand at Plainsman Park. See above to hear the call in its entirety. It was a career high for Mize, who had 11 strikeouts through the first five innings. He also tied the Auburn single-game record for strikeouts.
Mize went on to become the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, and after finishing his first full season in the minor leauges last year, which included a no-hitter in his AA debut, he earned an invitation to spring training this year with the Detroit Tigers.
The Coronavirus has put everything on hold for now, but we caught up with the former Auburn ace to talk about the 15-strikeout performance against the Commodores.
Gallery: (05-04-2018) Baseball vs Vanderbilt
Q: What do you remember from that game?
Mize: It was a big weekend with Vanderbilt coming to town. We'd been playing well. They were a top 25 team. They were really good. It was just another weekend at Plainsman Park where I wanted to go out on Friday night and set the tone for the weekend and get to play in front of our fans. It was beautiful weather, beautiful scenery and luckily, I pitched pretty well. Brett Wright hit a first-inning home run. Conor Davis hit a three-run home run later in the game, and that ended up being enough because we won 4-1. I didn't know where I was in the record books when that was going on, but after the game when we were shaking hands and I hear the call that I tied the record, that was pretty neat for me. Overall a great night. It's one I'll remember forever.
Q: What was working for you? Did you get into a groove?
Mize: I remember my cutter was working. I was throwing that a bunch because they had four or five lefties in the lineup when normally there is two or three. So I was able to throw that cutter at their back foot under their barrel, and I remember that working a lot. And then the splitter, which is I guess my signature pitch, I threw a bunch of those that game as well. Those two pitches I remember being on, but especially that cutter and backfooting that to those lefties. I remember having a lot of strikeouts early in that game and thinking things are going pretty well today.
Q: What did it mean to tie the Auburn record for strikeouts in a game? You joined a club that includes two former big-leaguers, Tim Hudson and Chris Bootcheck.
Mize: It means a lot. At the time I wasn't really sure of the record, but then when I hear the names after the fact, it definitely put me into elite company. I was honored to be in that group. Those are two big-league guys, two guys I respect and had spent some time around. I was super excited to be in that group, and then sure enough less than a year later, Tanner [Burns] joined that group as well. He added another pretty good name to that group. It's pretty cool just to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys.
Q: The MLB Draft is coming up. What do you remember from when you were drafted?
Mize: It was two of the best days of my life. The day before we won the Raleigh Regional at NC State, which was honestly one of the best nights of my life. We won that regional with authority, and it was just icing on the cake for a great season and how we went from not very good my freshman year to winning a regional that junior year and then knowing I had something pretty special in store for me the next day personally.
We get back to Auburn and we go to that football conference room, and I've got all my teammates, friends, family, coaching staff, just people around the Auburn baseball program who deserved to be in that room because they all had a part in it. It was really neat for me to experience that with my teammates and have all of them there. When I got picked first overall, there was a lot of relief because it was a very stressful year for me. I was obviously very happy for myself and my family and teammates to experience that.
Q: You mentioned Tanner. He has a chance to go in the first round this year. As his mentor at Auburn, how special would it be for you to see him accomplish that?
Mize: It'd be very special. I respect Tanner a ton. He's such a great dude and a great friend to me. I obviously want the best for him, and I think he deserves it. He's a great player, great teammate, great person. Whatever team does draft him – hopefully it's in the first round, I think it will be – they obviously made a very good pick. I'm looking forward to seeing his success play out on draft day because I know it's going to be a great day for him and his family, and he definitely deserves it. I'm very much looking forward to seeing that day come and see who gets to have Tanner on their team.
Q: What's it say about Butch Thompson and the Auburn program that it could potentially have two pitchers in three years get drafted in the first round?
Mize: It says a lot. It says he's getting good players into the program by recruiting well, and then he's developing even better. Because I wasn't a very high recruit, but I was developed a ton by Butch Thompson and that allowed me to go in the first round, go with the first pick and have the success I have today. For Tanner, it was a different story. He was a very high recruit, but he still developed and got much better at Auburn. I think it shows that Coach Thompson is doing a great job in developing players, recruiting players and just getting good people to Auburn. That's the biggest thing he cares about.
Q: How did your first full year in the minor leagues go last year?
Mize: It was good. I definitely learned a ton. I set my goal to go learn a lot, gain some experience in pro ball and set myself up for a big year this year. I think I did that for the most part. Obviously things have changed a little bit this year, but I'm still hoping that I set myself up well for this season and maybe I can pitch in the big leagues like I had planned and start my major league career. But it was a good first year. I learned a bunch. I got to travel a lot. I went to a lot of areas around the country I had never been. It's a lot different than college, but it's something I've got to do, and I've got to do adapt and adjust to.
Q: I have to ask about that no-hitter in your AA debut. Seriously?
Mize: It was awesome. I caught a plane up to New Jersey. I met the team in New Jersey a couple days before and then we drove over to Pennsylvania and I started the first game of the series. I just wanted to make a good first impression. That was honestly my goal of that game was to impress my teammates. It was a new group of guys and a new coaching staff. Our GM was there, assistant GM was there, Jim Leyland who was a longtime manager of the Tigers was there. So I definitely wanted to make a good impression on all those people there. I plunked the first batter, so that wasn't a very good start to the game. Luckily, I turned it around and ended up throwing a no-hitter and having a good game. Like I said, my goal was to make a good first impression and I think I did that. After that, it was smooth sailing. I don't have to worry about impressing these guys anymore.
Q: What have the past two months been like for you with COVID-19?
Mize: I was still in camp when everything happened. I was still there, pitching pretty well. I was going to start the next day against the Yankees. So that's a bummer. But honestly, my goal for this year was to pitch in the big leagues. If there still is a big-league season, which I think there very much will be, I still want to be a part of that. That's still my goal for this year. There's still work to be done and some decisions to be made up top, but I hope I'm included and I hope I get that opportunity because I put in a lot of work and I think I'm just about ready to be there. If there is a season, I hope I'm a part of it.