DETROIT – One of the first signs of Justin Verlander fitting in with a younger Tigers roster was a chessboard in the middle of the Spring Training clubhouse. There sat a future Hall of Famer, matching wits with Troy Melton, 18 years his junior.
It was a perfect icebreaker for Melton to pick the brain of one of the greats of his profession. More important to the moment, it was a chance for Melton, who normally prefers playing on his phone to playing in person, to see how good he was at chess.
Those games have continued into the season, involving about half the pitching staff.
“We played yesterday. I got crushed,” Melton lamented after Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Athletics at Comerica Park. “I made a mistake in the first 10 moves, and it cost me. It was bad. It was really, really bad.
“It’s going worse for me now. He’s getting better. He’s really good.”
Melton compared the difference between playing chess on a phone and on a physical board to throwing a bullpen session and pitching in a game.
“Lights on, people are watching,” Melton said with a smile. “It’s scary, especially when you get crushed in 10 moves.”
It’s an odd twist for Melton, who has earned a reputation for a calm heartbeat and no stress each time he takes the mound. That continued Wednesday, when Melton struck out nine A’s over 5 1/3 innings with one unearned run allowed.
And as the Tigers plot their next moves -- both toward a fascinating Trade Deadline next month and a potential new-look rotation next year -- Melton looks like a very important piece of their plans.
It wouldn’t be fair to compare Melton to Verlander or Tarik Skubal. But the more Melton delivers, the more it’s fair to wonder if the 2022 fourth-round Draft pick out of San Diego State has the potential of a front-line starter.
His stats at this point in his career, small sample size allowed, are that good. More importantly, his stuff is that nasty.
“Two to three different fastballs,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “The slider off the cutter is a really good pitch. We took some bad swings tonight at that pitch. He’s been pretty dominant all season when he goes out there and starts.”
Melton raised eyebrows with increased velocity across the board last week at Yankee Stadium, where he tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Pitching on six days’ rest Wednesday, he threw even harder, from a four-seam fastball averaging 97.1 mph to cutters at 94-95 and sliders at 90-91.
Suddenly, a young pitcher who struggled to get swings and misses from big league hitters is compiling them without forcing it. His career-high nine strikeouts against the A's came in a 13-batter span from the second inning through the fifth, including leadoff hitter Zack Gelof on 98 mph heaters in the third and fifth. He used his cutter for three strikeouts in the fourth.
“His stuff has just been so good,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “I think it started [two starts ago against] Houston. You had Yordan [Alvarez] looking back to the dugout and going, ‘What is that?’ It speaks volumes to how good that [cutter] is. It was really good today and made some good hitters over there look silly.
“It’s such a hard combo when you have four-seam, two-seam, then you have a hard, almost-slider that’s a cutter, and then a big slider. So you see spin and wonder, 'Is it going to be big spin? Is it going to be little spin?' It speaks that he’s been doing a really good job of mixing those two. You have to pick one, and he’s been picking right as of late.”
Melton has allowed two earned runs on nine hits over 23 2/3 innings in his past four outings, with 27 strikeouts. Melton’s 1.82 ERA is the lowest in the American League among qualified starters since his return from the injured list on May 24. His 2.19 ERA as a starter is the lowest by a Tiger through his first 12 career starts since Mark Fidrych posted a 1.62 ERA during his incredible rookie season in 1976.
With Verlander set to retire, and Skubal, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty on track for free agency, Melton has a chance to help anchor next year’s rotation, teaming up with Framber Valdez, Keider Montero and Jackson Jobe.
For now, Melton wants to enjoy being around Verlander for the final few months of his career, not just in front of a chessboard.
“For me, being in my second year in the league, playing with him is crazy,” Melton said. “It’s nuts, looking at it and just knowing who he is and what he’s done in the game. It’s really cool.”