Casey Mize set to be highest pick in Auburn history

Casey Mize has tried to maintain a singular focus this season, but the junior right-hander understands that his life is about to drastically change.

With Auburn in the midst of an NCAA Tournament run, trying to make the College World Series for the first time since 1997, Mize was on the cusp of being the highest draft pick in program history. When the MLB First-Year Player Draft began Monday night, Mize was the first player off the board and selected No. 1 overall by the Detroit Tigers shortly after 7 p.m.

“We’re in the heart of the season right now,” Mize told AL.com last week. “We’re fighting and clawing for everything we can get. I don’t know. We’ve put in so much work this year, and this is the tail-end of it, so I don’t want to look past that and have it all be for nothing. I’m just trying to focus on what we’re doing as a team and what we’re trying to accomplish here.”

Yet it’s difficult not to consider the possibility of being the top pick in the draft, especially considering where Mize was three years ago — undrafted out of Springville High, in part because of an ankle injury early in his senior season, and rated as the No. 351 prospect in the 2015 class by PerfectGame.com.

Since then, however, he has developed into one of the most dominant pitchers in the nation and a two-time All-American at Auburn, just the second in program history, while flourishing under the tutelage of coach Butch Thompson.

Mize (10-5, 2.95 ERA this season) showed as much in his final outing before the draft Saturday against Army in the Raleigh Regional. He pitched seven commanding innings, striking out 11 and walking two while allowing just one run on four hits.

“I’m just impressed,” Thompson said. “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. I got to see him (Saturday) handle the rain; I was so impressed with that and him fielding his position so well. 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 has racked up 319 career strikeouts, including 151 in 109 2/3 innings this season, tied for third most in a single season in school history. His strikeout total is 107 more than his career hits allowed (212), and he has limited opponents to a career .215 batting average — including just .195 this season — while issuing just 39 walks in three seasons.

“Coach Thompson, I say this to everybody, he’s one of the top three or five people that’s influenced my baseball career,” Mize said. “He’s been such a big piece for me because he allowed me to kind of figure it out for myself and I think that was really cool. He’s allowed me to call my own game, and he calls ‘run your own show.’ It’s not being a selfish player and not doing your own thing; what he means by that is to take on experiences and learn from those. Freshman year, we weren’t a very good team but I got a lot out of that because he put me in a lot of big situations where I needed to learn, and I failed and I had some success too.”

That success, as well as Mize’s four-pitch repertoire — a fastball that sits between 92-96 mph, a devastating slider that ranges from 81-85 mph, a split-change that floats from 85-88 and is his primary out-pitch, and a recently added cutter that sits at 88-91 — and unmatched control, has vaulted him to the top of draft boards. Nearly every major publication expects him to be the top pick, while MLB.com reported Sunday that the Tigers have narrowed their choice down to three: Mize, Florida right-hander Brady Singer and Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart.

“He’s got the best stuff in the country,” said Chris McRaney, director of Team Georgia Baseball Academy, where Mize played travel ball in high school. “No scout is going to debate that.”

Mize’s journey to this point has been 18 years in the making, setting checkpoints for himself every step along the way with the end goal always being the majors. Though he has tried not to get too caught up in the hype and mounting chatter surrounding his draft stock — often leaning on teammates to keep him grounded — the junior righty admits he has enjoyed it to an extent. While he remains focused on another goal of a national championship, Mize and his family are excited for what’s to come Monday night.

“It’s very surreal; it’s unbelievable to us,” his father, Jason Mize, told AL.com. ahead of the draft. “That’s our kid, and just us talking about it is kind of unreal to us. We’ve always known he’s good, but you never really think that your child is going to be talked about as the No. 1 guy. If he doesn’t, he’s still a first-rounder. Anywhere in the first round is still an unbelievable experience.”