Tigers Place Casey Mize On 15-Day Injured List

The Tigers announced right-hander Casey Mize is being placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Right-hander Chase Lee is being recalled from Triple-A Toledo to replace Mize on the roster. As noted by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters that the strain was “very mild.” Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic adds that the issue initially cropped up during his last start against the Rockies, but that it was initially believed to be dehydration.

Given the mild nature of the issue, it’s reasonable to think that a reasonably quick recovery could be on the table for Mize. With that said, Petzold points out that Mize has had issues with his left hamstring before and ultimately ended up missing two months due to the issue last season. Given that previous injury history, it would hardly be a surprise if the Tigers ended up being cautious with Mize’s hamstring. He’ll miss at least the next two weeks due to the issue in any case, but even mild hamstring strains can leave pitchers away from the big league mound for a month or longer.

Losing a pitcher from the starting rotation is always worrisome, but it’s especially disappointing for Mize and the Tigers given the former first-overall pick’s strong start to the 2025 campaign. After throwing just 112 1/3 innings from 2022 to 2024 due to a number of injuries and struggling to a middling 4.57 ERA even when healthy enough to pitch, Mize entered the 2025 season without any assurances of a starting role. He managed to make the club’s Opening Day rotation despite that, however, and has looked excellent in seven starts this year with a sparkling 2.53 ERA across 42 2/3 innings of work. That level of dominance isn’t quite supported by the advanced metrics, as Mize is striking out just 21.0% of his opponents with a 3.93 FIP and 3.81 SIERA, but even those less impressive numbers would be a big step forward for the right-hander if carried forward across a full season.

Now that Mize’s attempts to put together a quality season in the middle of the Tigers rotation are on hold for the time being, Detroit will need to find a way to replace his production in the rotation. Mize was next slated to start for the Tigers on May 13, so a decision won’t be necessary for another few days. Right-hander Alex Cobb threw a live, two-inning bullpen session yesterday that lasted 30 pitches, but isn’t expected to be ready to return from hip inflammation until later…