DETROIT -- The last time Ty Madden pitched in a Major League game, he tossed two-thirds of an inning in mop-up duty in Game 1 of the 2024 American League Division Series in Cleveland. Madden was the third pitcher in a bullpen game started by Tyler Holton, so he knew what he was walking into when he arrived at Comerica Park on Monday afternoon.
Still, as Madden began his pre-start routine in the outfield for the series opener against the Red Sox, it was a little surreal. He did everything like he would for a start until the bullpen warmups. Madden had to wait to do those until Holton, Monday’s opener, was done warming up. Holton had the first inning, Madden from there.
It wasn’t quite the pitching chaos the Tigers deployed on Sunday night, but Monday’s bullpen game -- a 5-4 loss -- was a glimpse of the Tigers’ new reality with Tarik Skubal joining Casey Mize and Justin Verlander on the injured list.
Three-fifths of Detroit’s season-opening rotation is sidelined, and Jack Flaherty is struggling. The Tigers have Framber Valdez, who starts on Tuesday, Flaherty and Keider Montero, followed by uncertainty. The bullpen games that the club’s offseason rotation investments were meant to avoid are a staple of the Tigers’ strategy again.
“It’s not just an option. It’s a necessity right now,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I mean, that’s kind of where we’re at.”
It’s a bridge for now until some of the starters return. Mize, who left his April 28 start with a right adductor strain, is eligible for reinstatement on May 14, which could mean filling in for him for just one more turn next weekend in Kansas City. Verlander, who hasn’t pitched since March 30, is finally progressing in bullpen sessions from a muscular issue in his left hip -- he said he reached 94 mph with his fastball on Sunday -- and he could face hitters later this week. Add in a rehab assignment, and the Tigers could get him back later this month.
“It’s just taking a little longer than we thought,” Verlander said, “but it’s kind of a weird muscle from what I understand talking with doctors. I’ve decided to not put a timeline on it and just focus on if it’s getting better day to day, and it’s 100 percent trending in the right direction.”
Troy Melton, out since Spring Training with right elbow inflammation, began a rehab assignment Sunday with Single-A Lakeland. It was just 1 2/3 innings, but with a fastball topping out at 99 mph, it was a reminder of the dynamic arm he brings. The Tigers utilized him in a bullpen role last October, but will stretch him out as a starter to make him a rotation option again by the end of the month.
“He’s going to have a normal Spring Training [replicated] for him,” Hinch said.
Madden can essentially fill a rotation role, just with an opener in front of him. Monday was the best outing of his brief big league career, both in stuff and results. His five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts featured some nasty cutters that drew five whiffs out of 13 swings, along with a sharp splitter.
“The cutter was big tonight,” Madden said.
There’s an irony in Madden stepping into Skubal’s slot. Madden hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2024, because he missed all of last season with injury, sidelined by a right shoulder strain that never allowed him to get back into game action. The lost time explains why he still qualifies as the Tigers’ No. 20 prospect. His return this Spring Training was quietly one of the pitching bright spots of camp.
“Last year was a tough year,” the 2021 first-round Draft pick said. “It just feels good, all the hard work to get back here. It’s nice to be back out there.”
None of them, of course, can replace Skubal. Arguably no pitcher can, even if the Tigers went all-in on the best possible option on the trade market. That’s going to be a group effort, even after they get some of their traditional starters back. But if any team is pragmatic and creative enough for the challenge, it’s this one.
“We won [Sunday] with the group that we had, 7-1, and won a series,” Hinch said. “And we’ve won before with multiple people doing different things. … We’ve got to win it a different way. It has nothing to do with Framber’s start. It has nothing to do with Jack’s start on Wednesday. We have to take that mentality to overcome this [injury] in particular, but also the ones before that.
“It’s a big test, no doubt. You can’t deny that it’s a big blow. But we’re not going to cancel the season. We’re going to play the games.”