Tigers' Casey Mize 'not going to freak out' after latest outing

LAKELAND, FL – The Detroit Tigers lost, 7-5, to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, March 13, at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in spring training.

Detroit is 4-11 with four ties in Grapefruit League play.

What happened

The Tigers matched up against right-hander Mike Clevinger.

Once a mainstay in the Cleveland Guardians’ rotation in the late 2010s, over the past couple of seasons, Clevinger has failed to stick in the big leagues – resulting in a minor-league contract with the Pirates in 2026.

Facing the Tigers, Clevinger allowed four walks and registered five strikeouts, but he surrendered just one hit across 4⅓ innings.

The only hit off Clevinger came from Wenceel Pérez on an infield single with one out in the fifth inning. After that, both Colt Keith and Jace Jung walked to load the bases.

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The Pirates replaced Clevinger with right-handed reliever Joshua Loeschorn.

Parker Meadows took advantage of the pitching change by shooting a middle-middle cutter into center field for a two-run single with two outs in the fifth inning, trimming the Tigers’ deficit to 6-2.

It was a much-needed hit for Meadows.

Starting off

Right-hander Casey Mize made his fourth appearance this spring.

The 28-year-old allowed six runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts across three-plus innings, throwing 67 pitches. The Tigers used the spring training re-entry rule to remove him with two outs in the second inning, then send him back to the mound for the third.

Mize is still trying to lock in his mechanics.

“My mechanics are off. Something is out of whack,” Mize said. “I look forward to chatting with Robin [Lund] and Fett [Chris Fetter] to figure out what’s going on. I just feel like my timing is still off. I’ve got to figure that out.”

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize practices during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.

Of his four walks, all of them occurred in the first two innings, including three walks in a stretch of five batters in the second inning. He walked both Alika Williams and Jake Mangum on eight total pitches.

The walk from Mangum happened with the bases loaded for a 1-0 Pirates lead.

In the third inning, Jhostynxon Garcia blasted Mize’s middle-middle slider for a two-run home run to left field, producing a 108.5 mph exit velocity. In the fourth, Mize allowed back-to-back singles to Mangum and Tyler Callihan with one out, leading to his removal from a concerning start.

“It’s important that I feel good going into Arizona [against the Diamondbacks],” Mize said, referencing the second series of the regular season, with two more spring starts before then. “But I’m not going to freak out, either. It’s spring training, and I’m working through some things.”

At the plate

The Tigers added three runs in the seventh inning.

But it was too little, too late.

In the seventh, Woody Hadeen (single), Seth Stephenson (walk) and Jack Penney (walk) loaded the bases with two outs. From there, the Tigers took advantage of defensive mistakes from the Pirates, scoring one run on a wild pitch and two runs on a fielding error.

The Pirates, though, retired the final seven batters.

First baseman Spencer Torkelson went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .160 in 10 games; left fielder Riley Greene went 0-for-3, lowering his to .208 in 10 games; and top prospect Kevin McGonigle went 0-for-2 with one walk, bringing his average to .280 in 13 games.

On the mound

Right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee replaced Mize with runners on the corners and one out in the fourth inning.

Hanifee struck out Konnor Griffin – MLB’s No. 1 prospect – on four pitches, with Griffin swinging through three consecutive middle-middle sinkers for the second out of the inning. He had a chance to escape the jam, only to fumble a dribbler from Joey Bart for a run-scoring infield single, making it 5-0 Pirates.

Even worse, the mistake meant Hanifee had to face left-handed hitter Endy Rodríguez.

Here’s why that matters: In 2025, right-handed hitters (such as Griffin and Bart) hit .220 off Hanifee with a .549 OPS, while left-handed hitters (such as Rodríguez) hit .373 with a .995 OPS.

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Rodríguez took advantage of the opportunity, dropping Hanifee’s changeup into right field for an RBI single and extending the Pirates’ lead to 6-0. On the play, Bart was thrown out at home plate on a relay started by right fielder Kerry Carpenter, with catcher Jake Rogers applying the tag.

After Hanifee, right-handed reliever Beau Brieske completed a scoreless fifth inning and left-handed reliever Tyler Holton tossed a scoreless sixth inning. The duo combined to retire six of seven batters, with Brieske issuing a two-out walk in the fifth.

Both runs with Hanifee on the mound were charged to Mize.