Troy Melton Could Save Tigers Rotation After Stellar Second Start
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The Detroit Tigers have dealt with what feels like endless injuries to their starting rotation this season, and this week brought what was the toughest blow yet.
Detroit acquired Chris Paddack from the Minnesota Twins ahead of the trade deadline, a move which made a whole lot more sense once it was revealed by Scott Harris that Reese Olson is out for the season.
Just about everyone outside of *knock on wood* Tarik Skubal has gone down with ailments for at least some period of time, and this team needs quality starts now more than ever.
In his second career start on Monday night though, Tigers rookie Troy Melton delivered a dose of hope that has been needed for a very long time.
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Melton threw seven scoreless innings for Detroit to take the series opener from the Arizona Diamondbacks, finishing with a final line of five hits and no runs with five strikeouts and no walks over the seven frames.
The Tigers held on and Melton earned the first victory of his young career.
Currently rated as the No. 6 prospect in the organization, Melton emerging would be an absolutely seismic development for this team's ceiling.
In his first start last week against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 24-year-old flashed his potential over five innings, but it had not come together with seven hits, six runs and two walks allowed along with seven strikeouts.
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Making the necessary adjustments from his first to his second start while facing a better lineup, Melton all of the sudden looked like a possible future ace.
This is no flash in the pan either. The minor league numbers for the right-hander this year have been impressive.
After being promoted to Triple-A Toledo while posting a 3.23 ERA in 10 starts for Double-A Erie this year, Melton stepped up his game even further.
He made eight appearances (six starts) for Toledo and not only lowered his ERA in that period to a very impressive 2.72, but he was striking out more batters as well.
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Melton fanned 45 in 39 innings for Erie, then in 36.1 innings for Toledo raised that figure to 56, also keeping his walk numbers.
There has been legitimate development this season from the rookie and his numbers only got better once the competition got better.
If Melton keeps on improving this year, this is a name who could be the X-factor for this rotation in 2025.
With Detroit in absolute desperate need for a pitcher to emerge, Melton certainly looks like just that.
From here on out, he will have a very close microscope on him. Time will tell if the youngster can perform under that kind of pressure.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.