NEW YORK -- The last time Casey Mize struck out a Major League hitter in a regular season game, he had spotted a 95 mph fastball on the outside corner to Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. That was on April 14, 2022, and Witt was in his sixth Major League game.

Little could Mize have imagined that night in Kansas City that it would be his last big league game for 721 days, the final two of those days spent waiting out the weather.

And yet, as Mize unleashed a nasty 87 mph splitter to fan Pete Alonso in the first inning of Thursday afternoon¡¯s 6-3 win over the Mets, the top overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft wasn¡¯t worried about history, or about his surgically repaired elbow or back. He was deep into the competition in the opener of a twin bill at Citi Field.

¡°I don¡¯t know if there was one moment where I took it all in,¡± Mize said between games. ¡°I don¡¯t want to view anything as a finish line, or that this thing is over, because it¡¯s not. This is going to be continual.

¡°I¡¯m certainly proud to get back here. This is a good checkpoint, obviously, in a really long and tough process, and I¡¯m proud of the work that I put in and people have done for me. I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks for getting me back to where I am, but I think it would be a disservice to them if I just took it all in and did it once or whatever. So got to keep going, got to keep pushing for more, and continue to get better. And I feel really good about being able to do that.¡±

This is where Mize wanted to be through all those months of rehab, a viable starter contributing to wins again. He¡¯d like to be more effective, but his no-decision for three runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings reflected his ability to control damage and keep the Tigers close enough for a chance to come back and continue Detroit¡¯s perfect start.

But Mize understandably believes he has a lot more in his arsenal to help the team as the season goes on.

His better individual pitches against the Mets lend credence to that, particularly some splitters that brought flashbacks to his dominant college season at Auburn that vaulted him up the Draft board six years ago. He finished off Tyrone Taylor and DJ Stewart with splitters on consecutive strikeouts to end the second inning and lead off the third, and his five swinging strikes on splitters comprised half his total over his 87-pitch outing despite the splitter comprising just under a quarter of his pitch selection.

The splitter he threw to Mets cleanup hitter Francisco Alvarez later in the third was a little slower, a little flatter, and it ended up rattling around the left-field corner for a two-run double to put New York in front.

Mize¡¯s fastball was a similarly mixed bag, with four whiffs and seven called strikes but also a 108.7 mph ground-ball single, also from Alvarez.

¡°I did some things today that I really, really liked,¡± Mize said. ¡°I think the split was a really good pitch for me. I liked my fastball a lot. I think I should¡¯ve thrown more [of them] than I did, but I felt like I was a little slider happy which led to some -- not wasted pitches, but I felt like I could¡¯ve ended some at-bats earlier with some fastballs. ¡­

¡°I feel like if you look beyond the box score, I did some things today that I¡¯m really happy about and looking forward to building upon.¡±

Considering how slowly some Tigers pitchers in recent years have been brought along coming back from Tommy John surgery, that¡¯s a good sign. Manager A.J. Hinch said going into the season that the only regulator on Mize would be his results -- no set pitch limit or count.

In that respect, a 113.6 mph single from Pete Alonso off a slider was a sign for Hinch to go to his bullpen. Joey Wentz allowed the inherited runner to score on a Brett Baty single, but that was the Mets¡¯ last hit of the game.

From this point on, Mize can build. Not only is he a full-fledged member of Detroit¡¯s rotation again, he¡¯s part of a team off to a hot start for the first time in his career.

"That's not easy for what he had to do, waiting -- not just the 48 hours, but kind of the two-year anticipation of getting back on a game mound in the big leagues during the regular season," Hinch said. "So he pitched with a lot of emotion, and I thought he pitched fine."