LAKELAND, Fla. -- There’s a new sign hanging in the Tigers' clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium.
“Less talk, more work,” reads the sign, a quote attributed to Miguel Cabrera.
As Michael Fulmer discussed his latest outing Monday, having tossed three innings of one-run ball in the Tigers’ 9-5 win over the Cardinals, Miguel Cabrera walked by the scrum of reporters and pointed to his sign.
“Thank you,” Fulmer said in mid-answer after a laugh.
Casey Mize might have taken it too literally, leaving before the clubhouse reopened to reporters after the game. But his two-inning performance, possibly his last before heading to Minor League camp, left quite a statement by itself.
Mize, the Tigers’ top prospect and 17th-ranked prospect overall according to MLB Pipeline, had his last outing shortened by rain to nine pitches on a soggy mound against the Yankees last Wednesday. He seemed to have some energy left over for Monday, as he came out throwing above his usual velocity when he ran in from the bullpen for the seventh inning.
Mize retired the Cardinals in order in the seventh on 11 pitches, only the last of which was put in play. His splitter caught Cards prospect Randy Arozarena in a check swing for a three-pitch strikeout. Kolten Wong, who led off the game with a home run off Fulmer, swung and missed at three pitches from Mize for the second out.
Mize hit 98 mph with his 1-1 pitch to Jose Martinez before he grounded out to second.
“You could see he was overpowering it,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I mean, he was really letting it fly.”
The Cardinals seemingly adjusted to that the next inning. They drew back-to-back walks off Mize, testing his mechanics out of the stretch. A Jeremy Martinez sacrifice bunt moved the runners over before Drew Robinson’s sac fly to right plated a run, leaving Mize charged with a run against but without a hit allowed.
“You calm him down a little bit and it was a little bit better,” Gardenhire said.
With Minor League camp ramping up this week, Mize’s next outing could come on the back fields at Tigertown. Gardenhire isn’t confirming any upcoming moves, but from the outset, Tigers officials have been clear that his stint in big league camp is about learning and observing, rather than competing for a spot.
Fulmer, by contrast, is ramping up for his spot in the Tigers' rotation, and adjusting to the delivery changes designed to take pressure off his surgically repaired right knee. His velocity is on a slow climb; his fastball ranged from 89-91 mph before topping out at 93 mph in his final inning.
“I’m not worried about it,” Fulmer said. “If it keeps going up every outing, then we’ll be spot on.”
Fulmer struggled to spot his fastball down in the strike zone for his first handful of pitches and paid for it with a drive by Wong over the right-field bullpen and onto the patio for a leadoff home run. He scattered three hits and two walks over three innings from there and settled down with his command, racking up three strikeouts.
“Today was the best I’ve felt since spring started, honestly,” Fulmer said. “I think it was a lot smoother. The ball was coming out good. Everything was kind of less violent, more smooth, a little more sneaky.”