The Tigers were determined enough for Troy Melton to make his potential final Minor League rehab start Tuesday night that they flew him to Lakeland to start for their Single-A team when the weather forecast for Triple-A Toledo looked iffy. They got what they wanted.
Melton, pitching for the Flying Tigers, tossed five innings of one-run ball with no walks and six strikeouts. With his stint on the 60-day injured list eligible to end as early as Sunday, the hard-throwing right-hander could potentially throw his next pitch in the big leagues, giving the injury-depleted Tigers a welcome boost.
The Tigers moved Melton’s rehab from Lakeland to Toledo last week for an uptick in competition after he needed just 27 pitches to toss three perfect innings with five strikeouts for Lakeland on May 8. Tuesday was a little tougher, though he induced a similar rate of swings and misses. He gave up a leadoff single that came around to score on a stolen base, a balk and a groundout that deflected off Melton’s glove.
Melton gave up an infield single on a ground ball to third leading off the second inning, then settled down to retire his final 12 batters in order. The 11 balls in play against him averaged just 74.7 miles per hour, according to Statcast.
Melton, meanwhile, brought the heat. His four-seam fastball averaged 96.5 mph and topped out at 98.1. He induced 12 whiffs on 37 swings – four on his slider, three each on his four-seam fastball and sinker.
Melton threw 63 pitches (46 strikes), right around the pitch count the Tigers hoped to get out of him.
“The tricky part in A ball is there’s no guarantee [you can get the pitch count up],” manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday before the game. “When you get a guy who has experience, who throws strikes, there’s a chance for early-count outs. And I would take early-count outs over a 30-pitch inning.”
Melton has made four starts on his rehab assignment, essentially recreating the Spring Training ramp-up that he lost when he was sidelined in early March with elbow inflammation. Major League pitchers can spend up to 30 days on a rehab assignment, so the Tigers could get Melton another outing or two if they want before his rehab stint hits the 30-day limit at the start of June. Or the Tigers could call him up to make their rotation whole again.
The Tigers are currently operating with a four-man rotation, utilizing a bullpen game to fill the fifth spot. They have a bullpen game scheduled for Wednesday, then they wouldn’t need a fifth starter again until May 30 against the White Sox.