Tigers Make Troy Melton Permanent Part of MLB Rotation With Surprising Move

The Detroit Tigers haven’t been playing very well recently, but last week was still a special moment for one of their young players.

Starting pitcher Troy Melton made his MLB debut on July 23 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

It wasn’t the greatest debut for the No. 6 prospect in the Tigers’ organization, with the Pirates offense scoring six runs against him in his first three innings of work.

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Andrew McCutchen took him deep in the first inning, with Spencer Horwitz hitting a grand slam in the second. In the third inning, a sacrifice fly from Oneil Cruz plated a sixth run for Pittsburgh.

While the early hole was too much for the team to climb out of, Melton showed some real fortitude by closing out his first career Major League start on a high note.

He didn’t allow a run over his final two innings of work, with only three singles being recorded against him by Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Cruz before his debut came to a close.

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Melton finished his first career start by pitching five innings, allowing seven hits and two walks, resulting in six earned runs, while striking out seven.

Certainly not the kind of debut he or the team was hoping for, but there were some positives to take away from his performance.

And evidently, Melton did enough for the team to feel confident about his status moving forward, as he will be sticking in the Major League rotation.

On Saturday, his spot was secured when the team announced that Keider Montero was being optioned to Triple-A Toledo.

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"We certainly want him to feel like he can get his feet wet and help us win," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said prior to Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. "The emergence of Troy, obviously, is part of the conversation when you're making a move like this, but for Keider, specifically, he's got things to work on regardless.”

Melton already has his next two starts scheduled: July 29 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Aug. 4 in an American League Central rivalry game against the Minnesota Twins.

His production in the minor leagues warranted a look in the Big Leagues after he recorded a 2.72 ERA across 36.1 innings, striking out 56 batters and issuing only nine walks.

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"He really needed the challenge up in the big leagues," Hinch said. "I think we saw, specifically in the back half of his outing, why we're excited about his present and his future."

Melton will be providing insurance behind AL Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal, along with Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.