NEW YORK — The last time Casey Mize struck out a Major League hitter in a regular season game, he had spotted a 95 mph fastball on the outside corner to Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. That was on April 14, 2022, and Witt was in his sixth Major League game.
Little could Mize have imagined that night in Kansas City that it would be his last big league game for 721 days, the final two of those days spent waiting out the weather.
And yet, as Mize unleashed a nasty 87 mph splitter to fan Pete Alonso in the first inning of Thursday afternoon’s 6-3 win over the Mets, the top overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft wasn’t worried about history, or about his surgically repaired elbow or back. He was deep into the competition in the opener of a twin bill at Citi Field.
“I don’t know if there was one moment where I took it all in,” Mize said between games. “I don’t want to view anything as a finish line, or that this thing is over, because it’s not. This is going to be continual.
“I’m certainly proud to get back here. This is a good checkpoint, obviously, in a really long and tough process, and I’m proud of the work that I put in and people have done for me. I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks for getting me back to where I am, but I think it would be a disservice to them if I just took it all in and did it once or whatever. So got to keep going, got to keep pushing for more, and continue to get better.
