Troy Melton Is Giving the Tigers Hope After Tarik Skubal Trade
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It feels like the Detroit Tigers have not skipped a beat in their starting rotation after having dealt former ace Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the MLB Trade Deadline. His replacement Troy Melton has been fantastic filling in his spot at the top of the rotation.
Melton had his latest outing against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday on the road and was absolutely superb. Melton completed six innings giving up one run on four hits while striking out five batters and only walking one.
Melton has become the ace of the Tigers’ pitching staff now that Skubal is in Los Angeles. Whenever any baseball fan thought of an ace for the Tigers, they always thought of Skubal.
But now that Melton is the ace, the Tigers can comfortably rely on him to pitch deep into games and let the bullpen rest some each time he goes out there. Melton has pitched 80 innings this season for the Tigers with an ERA of 1.46 and WHIP of 0.90.
Those kinds of numbers for not even pitching 100 innings yet this season are stats that jump off the page to any casual baseball fan. And he has been ace material in his last nine starts on the mound.
Detroit is in good hands with Melton as their ace as he slowly but surely takes that title from Skubal. If the Tigers somehow make the playoffs, Melton is going to be a huge reason why as manager AJ Hinch has full trust in him.
Melton’s Next Start Is Huge Opportunity for the Tigers
The Tigers are in the thick of the American League Wildcard and American League Central playoff race. Detroit sits 3.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox for the division lead and is one game back of the last wildcard playoff spot.
Melton is set to take the mound again on Aug. 15 against those same White Sox when Chicago travels to Detroit. It is a huge opportunity for Melton and the Tigers to gain some more ground in their division and the playoff race.
Melton just needs to go out there and do what he does best, pitch and get outs. The right-hander has pitched six, seven, and seven innings in his last three go-arounds on the rubber.
He can go out there against the White Sox and dominate as the Tigers inch closer and closer to October. Melton and staff can sniff the postseason; they just have to keep doing what they do best and take it one game at a time.
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Tyler Miller is a 26-year-old Sports Journalist who has had a passion for writing ever since graduating from Georgia Southern University with a Journalism degree in 2022. Tyler has been writing about sports for going on 8 years now. Tyler has been a Detroit Tigers fan ever since Miguel Cabrera was tearing up the league in the early 2000s and has followed them from there till now with superstar Kevin McGonigle being in the mix. Tyler also has had experience writing for FanSided in the past where he was a site expert and a contributor across different sites.