Casey Mize and the Detroit Tigers have agreed on a contract for the 2024 season as the former Auburn pitcher seeks to return to the mound after missing almost all the 2022 season and the entire 2023 campaign.

Mize and the Tigers avoided arbitration by agreeing on a one-year, $830,000 contract, which carries a club option for the 2025 season, the American League team announced on Friday. The club option is worth $3.1 million. If Detroit declines the option, Mize will receive a $10,000 buyout.

The No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, Mize most recently pitched for the Tigers on April 14, 2022. Two months later, he had Tommy John surgery and, shortly after that, back surgery.

While Mize had not torn the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the cause of most Tommy John surgeries, an examination by Dr. Keith Meister of Arlington, Texas, found the UCL had been stretched so much that it had lost its elasticity.

In Tommy John – or UCL reconstruction – surgery, 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.

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 reaching the Majors. 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 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. He’s pitched 10 innings across two games for the Tigers since.

Mize and the Tigers were headed toward an arbitration hearing on his 2024 contract because they didn’t reach an agreement by the Jan. 11 deadline after exchanging salary figures. Mize asked for $840,000, and Detroit offered $815,000.

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