After missing almost two months of the season, pitcher Casey Mize is back at work for Detroit and pitching against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday as the Tigers chase a postseason berth.

One month ago, Detroit had a 56-63 record for the 2024 MLB season.

At 74-71, the Tigers start Wednesday three games behind the Minnesota Twins for the final wild-card spot in the American League playoff field, with the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox one game behind Detroit and the Houston Astros one-half game ahead of Minnesota.

Detroit has 17 games remaining on its 2024 schedule.

“I’m hoping to help a team that’s been winning to continue to win,” Mize said before his return to the mound on Aug. 30. “That’s the most important thing because it’s a fun group right now, and I look forward to helping out there. From a personal standpoint, just finishing strong and finishing the season healthy would be a super positive note.”

After Mize worked 5.1 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Angels on June 30, the Tigers placed him on the 60-day injured list because of a hamstring issue.

Mize worked the first six innings of Detroit’s 7-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox in his return on Aug. 30. He yielded three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four.

Mize pitched against on Thursday, going 5.1 innings in a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. The right-hander yielded three earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two.

Trying to extend the Tigers’ three-game winning streak, Mize faces the Rockies at 5:40 p.m. CDT Wednesday at Comerica Park in Detroit.

“I’m confident in how my body feels, but I think my brain is just catching up a little bit,” Mize said before his previous start. “But I think we’re good now. Full confidence. I know I feel great, so now I just got to put it all together, and, hopefully, I’m moving on the mound like I know I can, and I think that will lead to the ball coming out of my hand a little bit better and getting a little bit sharper and executing better.”

His return from the hamstring injury is the second comeback for Mize this season.

The Tigers chose Mize from Auburn with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft. The right-hander made his big-league debut on Aug. 19, 2020. But between starts on April 14, 2022, and April 4, 2024, Mize did not pitch for the Tigers.

In June 2022, Mize had Tommy John surgery and, shortly after that, back surgery.

In Tommy John surgery – or ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction – a tendon from elsewhere in the injured player’s body or from a donor is attached to the inner side of the elbow in place of the damaged ligament. The surgery is named after the first pitcher to undergo the procedure in 1974 and resume his career.

Before going out with the hamstring injury, Mize had a 2-6 record in 2024, although the Tigers owned a 9-7 record in his 16 starts. Mize had a 4.23 earned-run average and had struck out 58 in 78.2 innings.

Mize had a 19-2 pitching record at Springville High School before going 20-13 in three seasons at Auburn, where he struck out 324 in 267.1 innings.

Mize made 26 minor-league starts, with an 8-3 record and 2.71 earned-run average, before he made his MLB debut on Aug. 19, 2020. His minor-league work included a no-hitter for the Erie SeaWolves in his Double-A debut on April 29, 2019.

Mize made seven starts with the Tigers during the coronavirus pandemic-affected 2020 season. In 2021, Mize posted a 7-9 record with a 3.71 earned-run average in 30 starts for Detroit, but he made it through only 10 innings in 2022 before being shut down.

In his 57 MLB starts, Mize has a 9-19 record with a 4.30 ERA. He has struck out 212 in 278.2 innings.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.