Tigers' Casey Mize: Adds mid-80s slurve

Mize added a mid-80s slurve to his arsenal this spring -- a pitch that he says is his fourth-best offering but is "going to move up pretty quickly," Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. "I really like the shape of the pitch and how it was spinning," Mize said. "The slurve is something I've been working on all offseason, so I want to put that in a game and see that be successful. That's going to be big."

Part of what made Mize so appealing as the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft was his deep arsenal, but even so, he sought to add a sharper, more traditional breaking ball to his repertoire this offseason. A "slurve" is a term scouts use when referring to a breaking ball that has slider and curveball qualities and is therefore difficult to identify. The term is not often used in a positive light, as most scouts prefer a true curveball or slider, so it is good to hear Mize speak with confidence and satisfaction with regards to his new pitch. The three pitches he currently ranks ahead of his improving slurve are his fastball (because of how well he commands it), splitter (because it's his best offspeed pitch) and cutter (because he can throw it for strikes in hitter's counts).