SEATTLE — As Troy Melton fielded questions from the podium before Friday’s workouts, his answers projected “business as usual.” But the smile that threatened at the corners of his mouth betrayed the right-hander in a big way.
Really, though, can anyone blame him? The 24-year-old was a starter in his second season with Double-A Erie when June began. Then came July, when he made his Major League debut; August, when he shifted to the bullpen; and September, when he played a crucial role in helping the Tigers stay tied with Cleveland for the division crown in the stretch run.
And if Melton’s first October experience was a rocky one, well, that’s OK, too, because he was still on the Tigers’ team flight to Seattle one day later, bound for the American League Division Series.
As if that still weren’t enough of a whirlwind ride, on Friday, Detroit announced that he would start Game 1 of the ALDS against the Mariners.
Could Melton, even in his wildest dreams, have thought 2025 would wind up this way?
“Yeah,” Melton said shortly after the announcement. “Honestly, if I could have drawn it up, that’s what I’d be doing. But it’s kind of cool to look back on it [and] how fast it happened.”
In black and white, those words seem almost nonchalant. In real time, however, they were delivered with something approaching awe, as if Melton himself couldn’t believe what has transpired in a few short months. They were also delivered around a grin that broke through in his answers no matter how he fought it, proving that it’s not just fans who get caught up in the magic of postseason baseball.
“We’re excited to hand him the ball,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Plus stuff, great demeanor, the ability to handle what’s probably going to be the most excitable outing for him in a couple months’ worth of Major League outings.”
Melton doesn’t have to look back too far to see how far he’s come, rising from the Tigers’ fourth-round Draft pick (No. 117 overall) in 2022 to honest-to-goodness Major Leaguer after just 66 Minor League games.
A significant reason for the express pass up the chain was necessity. Detroit first needed a spot starter to give its ailing rotation a break during a stretch of 13 games in 13 days coming out of the All-Star break, then needed to add a swing-and-miss guy to its bullpen.
Shopping for one at the Deadline would have certainly cost the club in another area, but the Tigers didn’t just draw Melton’s name from the organizational hat. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the club’s No. 10 prospect at the time of his MLB debut, Melton has proven himself at each (short) stop of his journey. He had 94 strikeouts against 24 walks in 2023, 119 vs. 30 in 2024 and 101 vs. 20 this season prior to his callup.
Melton also possesses the aptitude and flexibility of being able to successfully start one outing and relieve the next, as he proved when Detroit shuffled its young star from the rotation to the bullpen and back again, trotting him out first during that pivotal end-of-season battle against the Guardians and then out of the bullpen in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series.
“I think it’s just who I am,” said Melton, who made four starts and 12 relief appearances for the Tigers during the regular season. “I’m pretty even-keeled as it is. Once you get out on the mound, the job is exactly the same. You want to get outs as fast as you can, as much as you can. Kind of makes it easy when your mentality kind of … it doesn’t change for me at all.
“It hasn’t been too big of an adjustment. Whatever they need from me, I’m ready to go for whatever they want.”
Melton will be the first up for the Tigers again come Saturday, with defending AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal starting Game 2 before the best-of-five series shifts to Detroit following Monday’s off-day.
It’s possible that a combination of scenarios could lead to Melton challenging for a rotation spot come Spring Training, and Hinch has made it clear that the organization sees Melton as a starter in the long term.
“I don’t want the back of the baseball card in his Major League experience to take anything away from what we see,” Hinch said. “This is a guy with multiple plus pitches [and] high-end velo. He can throw strikes in all quadrants of the strike zone. He can attack lefties. He can attack righties. He is a starter.”
Cliché as it might be, Melton is happy to fit in wherever he’s needed.
