With the Tigers enjoying an off-day in the middle of a 10-day road trip, it's a good time to empty the Inbox for your latest batch of Tigers questions.

Hard to say there’s absolutely no chance for the same franchise that promoted Jeremy Bonderman and Rick Porcello from Class A ball, and jumped Justin Verlander, Drew Smyly and Jacob Turner from Double-A Erie to do something similarly aggressive with Casey Mize, who threw a no-hitter in his debut for Erie on Monday. That said, a lot of things would have to fall into place for the club's No. 1 prospect. Mize would have to overwhelm opponents in Erie and Triple-A Toledo to the point that the Tigers, who have tried to challenge prospects the last couple years, would see the Majors as the only level that could truly challenge him. And he’d have to do so without stretching out his innings to an uncomfortable range for the Tigers, who are aware of the risks of innings jumps from year to year.

Mize, who turns 22 on Wednesday, would also have to leapfrog some other pitching prospects along the way. From a roster standpoint, especially in an acknowledged rebuilding season, it would be simpler for the Tigers to use this year for development, save the 40-man roster spot in the offseason (they have several players to protect from the next Rule 5 Draft), then bring Mize to big league camp with a chance to compete if he warrants it. But sometimes players force their way in.

When the Tigers carried Porcello out of Spring Training a decade ago, the argument from then-manager Jim Leyland to the front office was that Porcello was so clearly one of their five best starters that he’d lose credibility if they didn’t bring Porcello north with the big club. They brought reliever Ryan Perry north, too. That was a different era, both for baseball and the Tigers, and you wonder if the decision would be the same now. Very few managers have the decision-making influence now that Leyland did then. But the message was an interesting one.

Great question, and one that could confront the Tigers in time. One of the better snapshots from this past weekend’s series in Chicago was Matthew Boyd and Shane Greene talking with reliever Zac Reininger in the clubhouse after the White Sox came back to beat the Tigers. Reininger gave up five runs in the sixth inning, struggling to find the balance between attacking hitters with a big lead on the scoreboard and still pitching his game. It said a lot that Boyd and Greene took time after a game like that to talk with a shaken young reliever.

The Tigers have three more years of control with Boyd after this season. He just turned 28. For a team that has a wealth of pitching prospects on the way but needs young hitters, he should be a trade piece. But the work Boyd has put into his game the last couple years is a good example for others. The number of players who showed up for his Kingdom Home fundraiser in Spring Training says a lot about his place on the team. He has avoided major injuries over the course of his pro career. If you had to identify a veteran player on this club who could fit well on a younger roster, Boyd would be up on the list. But again, starting pitching is the heart of the Tigers’ rebuild.

If the Tigers received a really good trade offer for Boyd this summer or next, or in the offseason, a deal that would really fortify their farm system, I’d expect they’d take it. But if he ends up in a similar situation to Nicholas Castellanos, Boyd checks a lot of boxes as an extension candidate. The Tigers have time to let this play out, see how Boyd continues developing and see how many of their pitching prospects project to reach Detroit and stick.

The Tigers are going to give Beau Burrows, 22, time in Toledo. His last few starts haven’t gone well, including eight runs and three homers over 4 2/3 innings over the weekend. He has topped five innings in a start once so far. The talent is there, evidenced in the strikeout totals and average against, but he needs consistency and efficiency.

Miguel Cabrera stands at minus-1 in Defensive Runs Saved and minus-.5 in Ultimate Zone Rating in 83 innings at first base, according to FanGraphs. John Hicks is at zero DRS and 0.2 UZR in 53 2/3 innings. Niko Goodrum is minus-1 DRS and minus-.6 UZR in 48 innings at first. Brandon Dixon hasn’t had enough innings to register.