Detroit Tigers: Doing a check-up on Justyn-Henry Malloy

Time for a check-up on Detroit Tigers prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy.

The Detroit Tigers went out this off-season and opted to go and shake things up. In doing so, they traded away reliever Joe Jiménez to the Atlanta Braves. However, the Tigers recouped some players of good value in the form of Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Higginbotham.

While the Detroit Tigers may not have seen a ton out of Higginbotham, however, the addition of Malloy was the more exciting of the two. He's got the most upside of the two and even found his way near the top of the Top 30 prospects list for folks who frequent those on MLB dot com.

In their latest list update, MLB dot com had Malloy ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Tigers organization. For what it's worth, the influx of Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle shifted the top third of things around as Clark jumped right up to the No. 1 spot after being the third overall draft choice in the 2023 MLB Draft.

But Malloy is still one of the Tigers' more exciting prospects, and he has begun settling in during his first full summer with the Tigers organization. That being said, it's time to do a little check-in and see how things are going down on the farm for Malloy.

The right-handed hitting third baseman was touted as someone who really fits the Scott Harris mold. He's expected to be a hitter who can work counts deep and try to limit strikeouts in way of walks. Essentially, dominating the strike zone, he dominated one of the pillars that Scott Harris championed in his early press conference in Detroit.

However, Malloy still has some work to do, but overall, he's lived up to the hype. In his 100 games with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, accumulating 452 plate appearances. Malloy hit .277/.407/.462 with 15 doubles, a triple, and 17 home runs.

Malloy has driven in 65 runs for the Mud Hens while managing 77 walks to 107 strikeouts. He's done an excellent job working counts. While some could argue that he has been too passive at times, the numbers are not bad and could certainly be worse.

The Tigers should be happy with how things have gone for Malloy in his first season with the Tigers organization. He's done an exceptional job so far, so the Tigers should be happy with how things have progressed. While the average may need a tick upward, there's still time for that.

He could very well wind up getting a call-up, even if the average may be desired a bit higher. When it comes time for expanded rosters, Malloy may get his first chance at the big leagues if the opportunity allows.