Return of Casey Mize headlines slew of Tigers injury updates

Detroit — For the injured Detroit Tigers, reinforcements are starting to trickle in, headlined by starting pitcher Casey Mize getting lined up to come off the injured list and start against Toronto on Saturday, manager A. J. Hinch announced ahead of Friday’s game.

Mize is set to make his return after getting put on the 15-day injured list on April 29 with a right adductor strain, and was eligible to make it back to the active roster as of Thursday (May 14). Mize also will be back on the bump to start without a rehab assignment of any type. Hinch is confident to thrust the starting pitcher back into the lineup because his pitching volume never slumped amid the layoff, despite the injury.

So while Mize never faced game competition in the 16 days he’ll have been away, he did throw a number of bullpens and live batting practice sessions that Hinch feels are a good enough substitute. “The big thing for us was just keeping his volume intact. He's been able to continue to throw, which is a great sign.

There's always this concern when there's a layoff, and that layoff is minimum. There's an argument, is the live BP just like a rehab assignment because you can keep the volume, or does somebody need to get into a competitive environment? Casey responded well to the multiple bullpens and the live BP that he did down in Lakeland.