Tigers’ Troy Melton Delayed By Elbow Inflammation
TODAY: Melton told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that he is “not too concerned about anything long-term” with his elbow issue. “We’ll know more for sure in a couple of days or a week. But I’m pretty positive for the time being,” Melton said.
FEBRUARY 27: Tigers right-hander Troy Melton has halted his throwing program due to elbow inflammation, the team announced. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive) that the second-year pitcher is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
Melton pitched well as a rookie. Promoted shortly after the All-Star Break, he logged 45 2/3 innings. He started four of his 16 appearances and pitched to a 2.76 earned run average. Melton fanned 20% of batters faced against a league average 8.3% walk rate. He performed well enough to earn a spot on Detroit’s playoff roster, though he surrendered five runs across 8 1/3 frames.
Although Melton worked mostly out of the bullpen in his first season, he projects as a long-term starter. Melton posted a sub-3.00 ERA across 18 appearances (16 starts) in Triple-A before his promotion. He may have been in the mix for a rotation spot this spring if not for the late free agent signings of Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander.
Valdez and Verlander slot behind Tarik Skubal in Hinch’s starting five. Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty will round out the group if everyone gets through camp healthy. KBO signee Drew Anderson can work in long relief or as a spot starter; he’d presumably draw into the rotation if anyone from the starting five is injured. That would have left the Tigers to decide whether to carry Melton as multi-inning leverage reliever or have him stay stretched out in the Triple-A rotation.
There’s no indication he’s facing a long-term absence. The team will be cautious with any elbow concern for one of their more talented young pitchers, of course, but it doesn’t seem out of the question he could be back after a fairly minimal injured list stay to begin the year.
AL Central Notes: Hunter, Willis, Melton
Torii Hunter spoke with Twins president Derek Falvey last week, but the longtime Minnesota outfielder specified to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that it was just an informal chat, and not an interview in regards to the team’s open managerial position. However, Hunter said he already has a coaching staff mostly lined up if he ever gets a chance to become a manager, and he seems open to the possibility of a return to Minnesota.
“I guess they’re slow-rolling the process right now; I’m just sitting waiting. If the opportunity presents itself, then it would be something I would look into, think long and hard about…..Now it’s about a conversation to see where they’re headed, what their thoughts are, and then I’m pretty sure they’re going to see what I want to do with the team, who I’m going to bring aboard, my staff,” Hunter said.
Hunter already surfaced as a candidate in the Angels’ managerial search before the team hired Kurt Suzuki — like Hunter, a veteran ex-player with no formal managerial/coaching experience who had been working as a special assistant in the Halos’ front office. Despite Hunter’s interest, it isn’t clear if the Twins are still considering him or any other candidates, as the team has reportedly settled on at least four finalists (Ryan Flaherty, James Rowson, Scott Servais, and Derek Shelton) in their search.
More from around the AL Central….
- Carl Willis will be back as the Guardians‘ pitching coach next season, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. It will be Willis’ 16th overall season in the job, over two separate stints (2003-09, and 2018-present) in Cleveland. The widely-respected Willis is viewed as one of the key reasons the Guards have been so good at developing their pitchers into successful or even elite starters at the MLB level. There had been some speculation that Willis could be considering retirement as he approaches his 65th birthday in December, but he’ll instead continue a baseball career that has lasted for over four decades as a player and coach.
- Troy Melton was “a popular name in trade talks” for rival teams calling the Tigers prior to his big league debut in July, MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. Rather than deal Melton for a more proven pitcher at the deadline, Detroit instead relied on Melton himself to deliver, and the rookie posted a 2.76 ERA over 45 2/3 innings in the regular season and then a 5.40 ERA in 8 1/3 playoff frames. Typical of Detroit’s “pitching chaos” strategy, Melton (a starter in the minors) worked out of the bullpen in 15 of his 20 overall games in the Show. Now lined up for a full-time starting role in 2026, Melton would seem to have a good shot at winning a spot in the Tigers’ rotation.
Tigers Designate Brewer Hicklen For Assignment
The Tigers announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Brewer Hicklen for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-handed pitching prospect Troy Melton, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Toledo (as was previously reported). In order to open a 26-man roster spot for Melton, ace Tarik Skubal was placed on the paternity list. Skubal can be absent for up to 72 hours.
Detroit picked up Hicklen in a March 28 trade sending cash back to the Brewers. He’s appeared in just one game for the Tigers in 2025, going 2-for-3 with a walk in that lone appearance. The bulk of Hicklen’s season has come in Triple-A, where he’s carrying a .227/.335/.394 batting line (99 wRC+) with eight home runs and 14 stolen bases. He’s walked at a strong 11.4% clip but also fanned in more than 30% of his plate appearances.
The 29-year-old Hicklen has just 13 major league plate appearances under his belt. The two hits he collected with Tigers were the first of his major league career. Hicklen has played in parts of four Triple-A seasons and has a .242/.351/.466 slash through 1598 plate appearances. He’s played all three outfield spots in his career and has good speed to go along with a solid track record in Triple-A (contact issues notwithstanding). He’s in the second of three minor league option years.
The Tigers will trade Hicklen or place him on waivers within the next five days. If he’s placed on waivers, that’ll be another 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved within a week’s time. He hasn’t been outrighted to this point in his career and doesn’t have three years of big league service, so if he clears waivers Hicklen will stick with the Tigers as a depth option who’s no longer on the 40-man roster.
Tigers To Promote Troy Melton
The Tigers are going to promote pitching prospect Troy Melton, reports Jason Beck of MLB.com. Melton will start for the club on Wednesday, making his major league debut. The club will need to open a spot for him on both the 40-man and active rosters.
Melton, now 24, was the Tigers’ fourth-round pick in 2022. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, putting up strong numbers along the way. Overall, he has thrown 273 minor league innings over 66 games. 63 of those were officially starts, with the other three technically being long relief outings. In that time, he has allowed 3.63 earned runs per nine with a 28.1% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.
That includes his 75 1/3 innings this year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. He has a combined 2.99 ERA on the season. His 6.4% walk rate is still good and he has nudged his strikeout rate up to 32.4%.
Coming into 2025, many evaluators put Melton in the middle of the Tigers’ top 30 lists but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs was especially bullish. He gave Melton the #80 spot on his preseason top 100 list. Longenhagen notes that Melton sits in the upper 90s with his fastball with a slider and “splinker-style” changeup.
It’s unclear if Melton will be getting a rotation gig for a while or if this is just a spot start. The Tigers are three games into a stretch of playing 13 straight right after their pitchers where thrown off their normal routines by the All-Star break, so perhaps this is just to give everyone else a breather. Since this is his first major league call, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back down to the minors after his debut.
As of now, the Tigers have a rotation consisting of Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Keider Montero. The first four aren’t going anywhere but Montero’s not cemented in there. He’s been optioned to the minors and moved to the bullpen at times this year, so that could perhaps happen again if the Tigers want Melton to get more than just a spot start.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images.