FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Tigers’ wait for Troy Melton will continue until the last week of May at the earliest. That much became clear on Tuesday, when Detroit placed its gifted young right-hander on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus.
De Jesus hasn’t made the Tigers’ Opening Day pitching staff -- not yet, anyway -- but the southpaw has shown enough between his two Grapefruit League appearances and his gem for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic that the Tigers want to see more of him. But with De Jesus drawing interest from Asia -- he spent the past two years pitching in KBO -- the Tigers needed to purchase his contract to prevent an overseas team from signing him. That required a 40-man roster move.
“Given how we see he can fit in multiple roles, there's some potential for him to make our team,” manager A.J. Hinch explained. “We're going to give ourselves every opportunity to evaluate him by putting him on the 40-man.”
Melton has been sidelined since the final week of February with right elbow inflammation. Doctors initially recommended Melton rest for a week or two before throwing again, but he’s not throwing yet after one week. Hinch said Melton hasn’t sustained a setback, but his projected timeline for a return -- after throwing, building up throwing distance, bullpen sessions, live batting practice and a rehab assignment -- was moving deeper into May.
“Nothing happened to Melton,” Hinch said. “It's a timeline issue.”
Regardless, it’s a big loss for a Detroit team that would not have had last season's playoff run if not for Melton's sensational rookie stretch run -- first as a starter, then in relief. The 2022 fourth-round Draft pick out of San Diego State posted a 3-2 record and 2.76 ERA across 16 regular-season appearances (four starts), before pitching in four of Detroit’s eight postseason games. Melton's three scoreless innings with three strikeouts not only earned the win in Game 4 of the AL Division Series against the Mariners, it forced a winner-take-all Game 5 in Seattle, where he pitched a scoreless 10th inning in the 15-inning marathon.
Melton was a rotation candidate heading into Spring Training until the Tigers signed Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander just before the start of camp. Melton was still a candidate for Detroit’s bullpen until his elbow bothered him following a live batting practice session in February.
That bullpen spot could ultimately go to De Jesus, whose mid-90s fastball, nasty changeup and slider have flummoxed hitters from the Grapefruit League to WBC Pool D in Miami. While Skubal drew most of the attention on Saturday, pitching for Team USA, De Jesus struck out eight batters over five innings of one-run ball to help Team Venezuela beat Team Israel that evening.
“He's just tough to pick up,” Hinch said. “There's something about the swings that he's getting that demonstrates some deception. When you match velocity with his strike-throwing ability and the multiple pitches, there's a lot to like.”