After months of projections and rumors, all of Casey Mize's dreams were fulfilled Monday night.
Mize was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Mize is the first Auburn player to ever be selected as the No. 1 pick.
Mize, fresh off a brilliant 11-strikeout outing in Auburn's undefeated run through the Raleigh Regional, is 10-5 with a 2.95 ERA this season. He was recently named an All-American, making him just the second two-time All-American in Auburn history.
Mize has struck out 151 batters compared to just 12 walks over 109.2 innings of work this season. He has held opposing batters to a .195 batting average and leads the Tigers with three complete games this season.
With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 #MLBDraft, the @tigers select RHP Casey Mize from Auburn University! pic.twitter.com/xNKdqEBi3d
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2018
On March 9, Mize threw the ninth no-hitter in Auburn history in a 6-0 win over Northeastern. He struck out 13 Huskies in one of his most career-defining outings.
On May 4, the Springville, Alabama, native struck out 15, tying an Auburn single-game record, in a 4-1 victory over Vanderbilt, who crushed nine home runs in a regional championship game against Clemson over the weekend.
In his three-year career at Auburn, Mize has posted a 20-12 record to go along with a tidy 2.81 ERA. Over the last two seasons, Mize has compiled a 8-2 record with a 2.04 ERA, 109 strikeouts and nine walks in 83.2 innings in 2017.
The junior right-hander has an eye-popping 12.4-to-1 career strikeout-to-walk ratio and currently ranks fourth in Auburn history with 319 strikeouts, just eight behind Brent Schoening with at least one more start to remaining in his Auburn career.
“He’s about as good as I’ve had,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson, who has coached 13 major league pitchers. “He’s handled himself like a champion to keep Auburn out front. To handle all the distractions of him as a ballplayer compared to the demands of everybody else, his maturity has rang through time and time again. I think he has pitched so well that if he gives up two or three or four runs, something’s got to be wrong. That’s pitching at a high level when you get to that point.
“I’m just impressed. I got to see a little bit of everything. I got to see him throw the best games I have ever seen. I got to see him work as hard as any pitcher I have seen work in between starts. I got to see him go through adversity. He’s about as complete a college pitcher as I think I have ever been associated with. He put a good stamp on it (Saturday).”
Mize features a fastball that ranges from 92-96 miles per hour, a slider that sits in the 81-85 range, a split-finger that he uses as his changeup and sits 85-88 and a cutter that runs up to 88-91. He can throw all four for strikes and at anytime in the count.
"All of us in the Tigers organization are thrilled to select Casey with this pick, and are confident that he will become a pillar in our player development system that's going to bring winning baseball to Detroit for seasons to come," Detroit Tigers Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Al Avila said. "Being a college pitcher – especially coming from the Southeastern Conference – we know casey has seen elite competition before."
Mize became the seventh player in the 53-year history of the MLB Draft to go from undrafted out of high school to the No. 1 overall pick. He is the highest pick in Auburn history ahead of Gregg Olson, who was selected fourth by the Baltimore Orioles in 1988.
With the No. 1 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, the @tigers select ...@AuburnBaseball's Casey Mize! pic.twitter.com/lKjWbrOxWr
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) June 4, 2018
“It’ll mean a lot of things,” Mize said over the weekend about the possibility of being the No. 1 overall pick. “It’s just another goal accomplished for me. It’s not the end goal, but it is a huge one for me. That would be taking my first step toward playing professional baseball, which is awesome. It’s kind of that making it over the wall of everything I’ve worked for.
“I think when I look back on my career, this will kind of be the separator of, I’ve reached a humongous goal, and now it’s what can I do after that? This goal kind of reflects everything I’ve done before, and is going to be kind of a stepping stone for everything I can do in the future. I think it’s going to be huge for me.”
Mize will continue to don the orange and blue as long as he can as the Tigers are just two wins away from a berth in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mize arrived at Auburn from Springville High School as the No. 351 overall prospect and No. 127 pitcher. He will leave The Plains as the No. 1 player in the country, and a legacy that will last for generations.
@caseymize04 welcome to Detroit big dog....congratulations
— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) June 4, 2018
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