The Renaissance of the Tigers 1-1 Picks: Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson Are For Real in 2025

Published On: April 21, 2025By 0 Comments on The Renaissance of the Tigers 1-1 Picks: Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson Are For Real in 2025
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Tiger fans have had plenty of reasons to be excited for both Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize as number one overall picks in the MLB draft. Following the 2016 season, the team entered an unbearable rebuild, bottomed out, watched AAAA players for several years, reaching a point of apathy for the franchise. The fans were drudging through some lean years of 100 loss seasons, looking for any reason to be excited for the future, and what better way to find a glimmer of hope than turning to two potential stars at the top of two drafts that the Tigers were selecting.

 

Both Mize and Torkelson were consensus number one picks at the time of their selections, high floor/can’t miss prospects, played at traditionally successful collegiate baseball programs, had all the tools to be pillars of the franchise going forward. Mize was in a pretty shallow 2018 MLB draft for premiere talent, however showed flashes in college to end up as mid to front line starting pitcher at Auburn. His precision to pound strikes with multiple pitches, excellent command, and nasty splitter all had draft experts assuring that he would be a can’t miss pick atop the draft for Detroit. Torkelson on the other hand was considered to be a generational type hitter, that despite being a potential first overall pick as a right handed first baseman (announced as a third baseman which still baffling lol), that his bat would play to levels that would trump his lack of positional versatility. Torkelson was one of the most decorated collegiate hitters in college baseball coming out of Arizona State, projected to have easy and consistent 40 homer power, leading the Tigers to be locked on selecting him atop of the 2020 draft. Turns out, baseball is neither that simple nor that linear to attain projected success immediately.

Mize had ups and downs in his first few seasons following his debut in 2020. Main struggles pointed towards his lack of command that he showed at Auburn, his splitter was virtually inexistent, but also Mize had consistent issues with putting hitters away on two strike counts due to lack of swing and miss stuff. Mize missed both majority of the 2022 season as well as the entire 2023 season with recovery from Tommy John surgery along with a back surgery. Upon his return in 2024, he battled all season and took lumps but mainly had the same struggles as he returned from injury. Mize entered 2025 attempting to just simply make the rotation for the Tigers as the team planned for multiple other starting pitching options in the event that Mize was not able to find his footing, let alone get to be the prospect he was touted to be.

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Torkelson played across three levels of the minors in the 2021 season and was arguably rushed to make his debut with the Tigers in the 2022 campaign (some speculate in effort to somewhat save Tigers GM Al Avila’s job). None the less, found himself in a position become a key cog in the Tigers lineup on opening day 2022. Needless to say, Torkelson felt the weight on his shoulders all throughout the 2022 season and beyond. Torkelson struggled in 2022 and was demoted to Toledo to find his swing. He had a very slow start to the 2023 season, but got red hot towards the end of the 2023 campaign clubbing 31 homers and finishing the year on a good note, leading people to believe he has turned the corner to being the stud he was drafted to be. The Tigers gave Torkelson every opportunity to be the main stay first baseman given the finish of the 2023 season, not bringing in any true alternatives to play the position. Well, the 2024 season was very similar to 2022, starting off incredibly slowly and eventually being demoted again to Toledo. Tork had a lot of the same issues in both seasons, not being on time consistently, missing center cut fastballs, remaining steadfast and staunch with his approach at the plate despite the lack of results, leading to a lot of frustration from fans of the Tigers. Everyone could see the ability was there from his finish to the 2023 season, but fans and the team were beginning to lose their patience with Tork. He was eventually recalled in the 2024 campaign and played throughout the Tigers playoff run, however heading into the 2024-2025 offseason, the team did not feel comfortable putting all of their eggs in one basket with Tork. The team brought in Gleyber Torres to play second base, decided to shift Colt Keith to first base for the 2025 season, and also decided to give Justyn-Henry Malloy reps at first base as well. Not necessarily squeezing Tork off of the 2025 roster, but Tigers President of Baseball Operations, Scott Harris essentially saying that Tork would need to hit his way onto the 2025 roster in order to be a viable option for a team looking to get back into the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

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Both Mize and Torkelson headed into the 2025 campaign battling for roster spots, and both did not disappoint in spring training. Mize carved opposing hitters the entire spring, discussed his off season changes to develop two different variations of his slider on top of his fastball and splitter to help put hitters away, and helped to lock himself into the rotation for opening day. Mize threw 19 innings in the spring with 25 punch outs, scattering 11 hits and only 4 earned runs. I was actually fortunate enough to see Mize’s start in spring training against the Red Sox in Fort Meyers, and he absolutely shoved. I am not a professional obviously, but the first inning against what would be Boston’s projected Opening Day lineup, Mize got jumped by Jarren Duran to start the game giving up a solo homer, but he then kept his composure and punched out the side in the first inning setting down Rafael Devers, Alex Bregman and Triston Casas. Something about Mize in that outing just looked different. Seeing him in person and just dicing that Sox lineup, I was eager to see what he would do once the games really mattered.

Meanwhile, Torkelson clubbed 5 homers in the 2025 spring training going 17/50 with an OPS of 1.069. Tork had previously always been a slow starter, so fans were cautiously optimistic that he could turn the page in 2025 getting on the roster due to some injuries to Matt Vierling and Parker Meadows.

Anyone can say that spring training stats typically do not matter, but for both Mize and Torkelson needing to make the roster, they both came ready to rumble and took it seriously to prove why both were such highly touted picks and deserve to remain in the fold for the Tigers.

Since Opening Day 2025, both have been arguably the two best players on this current Tigers roster. Torkelson currently has 7 homers, hitting .289 with an OPS of 1.049 and OPS+ of 198 (league average is 100, so nearly doubling league average). He has had clutch hits for this team in big spots (notably a walk off against the White Sox, and a game winning home run against the Royals), but simply executing on the adjustments that he made to his swing in the 2024-2025 offseason. His stance looks more athletic, appearing more narrow in the batters box, but swinging with much more violence and driving the ball to all fields. Torkelson has already accumulated 1.2 WAR in April 2025, where his cumulative WAR from 2022-2024 was -0.1 across those seasons. His average exit velocity is the highest it has been in his career to this point at 92.3 mph, with a 0.368 isolated power and a 49% hard hit percentage. His batting average on balls in play might be a bit of an outlier that could show he will come back to reality eventually at 0.341, but continuing to scold the baseball will only help his cause. He is absolutely mashing so far in April, in a Tigers lineup that absolutely needs to have a consistent force in the middle of their order.

At the same time, Casey Mize has thrown 24 and a third innings sporting a 2.22 ERA in 4 starts in 2025 with a WHIP of 0.945 and K/9 of 6.7 in these starts. These numbers might not necessarily pop off the page, but watching his outings, you can see the surgical execution and command that he is offering hitters, while his splitter has looked incredible and truly showing as a swing and miss pitch. His opponents OPS against has been only 0.560 and Mize is only giving up a hard hit percentage of 34.3% so far in the 2025 campaign.

Both of these guys have been at the top of the mountain as prospects, and had to be humbled that their roads to stay and be successful in the big leagues took this long, but they both are finally starting to officially pop off. The Tigers in general had high expectations heading into 2025, however their first place start to the season (as of April 20th 2025) would not be possible without both Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize. Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch spoke of both players recently and was quoted saying,

“There was certainly a time in this organization where the whole world was on their shoulders, they were the guys the fans were waiting on, that the organization was waiting on, it hasn’t been an easy road for either one of them. So to see them now both carry us, is a great testament to what they’ve had to endure.”

Hinch praised both players, stating that they both deserve all of the credit for getting back on track and continuing to amplify their path of development in the big leagues, while also being key contributors to a first place team.

Both Mize and Torkelson have long roads ahead still to cement their places on this roster for years to come, but this early season success can only be described as a true renaissance in 2025 to elevate this team to levels that we have all been waiting for.

Nick Spillane // @NeekSpills8

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