Check out Casey Mize’s four-pitch mix

Auburn Tigers star Casey Mize is a pretty unique cat for a big-time college ace. You don’t see a ton of guys at that level regularly throwing a cutter, although that’s not an uncommon pitch to encounter. Even more is his use of a modified split-changeup as a key out pitch. His repertoire of pitches has been understandably compared to that of a Japanese starting pitcher more than your typical hard-throwing SEC product. It’s more Shohei Ohtani with less gas than it is Justin Verlander, but it also will give the Tigers’ farm system another stylistic flavor should they select him as expected.

With the Tigers set to make him the first overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft, Mize is getting a lot of fourth and fifth looks as scouts and other interested parties attempt to separate the current player from his future potential. There remain some minor concerns about his chances to improve much beyond his current ability, but his current ability remains really, really good.

Mize features four pitches that each draw a plus grade from most scouting services, and perhaps most importantly, the advanced command to use them well. And to some degree, the categorization of his pitches can be deceiving. Mize’s cutter moves like a firm slider, whereas his low-80’s slider functions into the grey area between slider and curveball. Backed with a mid-90’s fourseamer and the split-change, Mize could get outs in the major leagues right now with this set of offerings.

There remains an outside chance that the Tigers could go in a different direction, but all signs point to Mize as a lock with just a week remaining until the draft. Get to know Casey Mize. We’re probably going to be rooting for him for a long, long time.

Thanks to the one and only Pitching Ninja for the gifs.