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Detroit Tigers rookie Troy Melton starts Thursday's series finale vs Cleveland Guardians
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- Detroit Tigers rookie Troy Melton starts Thursday's series finale vs Cleveland Guardians
CLEVELAND — The Detroit Tigers made their decision.
It was the most logical choice.
Right-hander Troy Melton will start Thursday, Sept. 25, in the finale of the three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. If the Tigers lose, then the Tigers' chances of winning the American League Central all but vanish.
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"We got to sort it out," manager A.J. Hinch said after Wednesday's 5-1 loss , when asked about the pitching plan for Thursday's game, "so it'll be a long night."
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Melton, a 24-year-old who made his MLB debut in late July, owns a 2.79 ERA with 13 walks and 35 strikeouts across 42 innings in 15 games (three starts) in the 2025 season. He hasn't completed more than three innings since Aug. 8, and he hasn't thrown more than 50 pitches since Aug. 13.
He isn't built up as a regular starter, so he won't be used that way in Thursday's game.
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"We'll see how long we take him," Hinch said before Thursday's game. "Obviously, we can go a lot of different ways. He's not built up to 100 pitches and what people generally refer to as a 'starter workload,' but we'll read the game and use whoever we have to."
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Although Melton joined the Tigers as a starter, he almost immediately shifted to the bullpen after just two starts in his MLB career because the Tigers wanted to maximize his value .
Why?
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The Tigers believed Melton — whose fastball averages 96.7 mph with a 31.9% whiff rate — offered more value pitching multiple times per week as a reliever rather than once per week as a starter.
"He can handle all of this," Hinch said. "No matter what setting that we've given him, I've seen a consistent person, the stuff is really good, and he's going to attack the zone."
He has struggled recently in his bullpen role.
In his past five games, Melton has a 4.50 ERA with six walks and seven strikeouts across 10 innings, following a 0.67 ERA in his previous nine games. He surrendered two runs across 1⅔ innings Sept. 18 in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians at Comerica Park, with both runs scoring on José Ramírez 's home run.
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"He's got a different array of pitches that he can use against these guys," Hinch said, referencing Melton's six-pitch mix: four-seamer, slider, sinker, cutter, splitter and curveball. "You need that against this offense. He'll attack them and pitch as long as we give him the ball."
Parker Messick expectations
The Tigers have never faced Guardians left-hander Parker Messick , who is starting Thursday. The 24-year-old owns a 2.08 ERA with five walks and 31 strikeouts across 34⅔ innings in six starts since making his MLB debut in late August.
He has surrendered just four runs over 17⅓ innings in his past three starts.
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"He's got a high-energy delivery. The stuff has move all over the place," Hinch said. "He makes you control the zone because he is around the zone, but you got to be careful you don't get into swing mode against the changeup because it can be really good."
HIS ROLE: Why isn't Troy Melton a starter? Tigers believe he's more valuable as reliever
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Parker Messick (77) throws a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
Messick hasn't given up four runs in a start since Aug. 14 against the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers. Only one player currently with the Tigers was in the lineup for the Mud Hens: Justyn-Henry Malloy .
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In that game, Ryan Kreidler — now a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates ' organization — hit a two-run double in the third inning, followed by Trei Cruz 's two-run single in the sixth inning.
"He's been very, very good in the big leagues and certainly on his rise to the big leagues," Hinch said. "You got to control the zone to beat him, which is not uncommon when you face a Cleveland pitcher who generally pounds the zone."
For Thursday's game, Malloy wasn't in the starting lineup against Messick. Instead, the Tigers chose to start fellow right-handed hitter Jahmai Jones as the designated hitter.
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Troy Melton starts vs Cleveland Guardians
