Detroit Tigers top 30 Prospects for 2023: #4 Ty Madden

Detroit Tigers top 30 prospects for 2023: No.4 - Ty Madden

The Detroit Tigers farm system may not be as exciting as it was a few years back, but with the benefits failing to be reaped, there are still some weapons. As we continue on the Motor City Bengals countdown of the Top 30 prospects on the farm, we continue with the top five.

This time, at no.4, it's right-handed pitcher Ty Madden, a frontline starter for the University of Texas during his collegiate days. The no. 32 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft has a shot to continue to bring value to the Tigers organization moving forward.

In two years with the Tigers, he has proven that he has the stuff and the drive to keep climbing. He's got plenty of upside, which is partially why he crept up into the top five on our prospect list for the organization.

Madden is 22 years old, soon to be 23, as of February 21st, 2023. He spent the 2022 season between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie within the Tigers organization. He's looking to make some strides and keep moving his way through the organization in 2023 as things get going.

With the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps in 2022, Madden made 19 starts, where he accumulated 87.0 innings pitched. He managed a 3.10 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP while walking just 26 in comparison to the 84 opposing hitters that he punched out.

He earned himself a call-up to join the Double-A Erie SeaWolves, where he made seven starts before the season ended and managed 35.2 innings pitched. Madden pitched to a 2.78 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP and was able to walk only 12 opposing hitters while punching out 49 of them.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-hander has some physicality to his build. There's some strength in his look on the mound. Speaking of his mound operations, let's dive into Madden a bit more.

Madden starts on the mound toeing the middle of the rubber with an off-set start from the wind-up. The feet begin pointed towards the first base dugout, and hands around the belt. He steps back towards first base and gets the hands up above the head with a placement step on the rubber before working into a leg lift up around the letters.

The hands are over the head and behind as the timing mechanism, returning to the area around the letters. There's some coil to his delivery, and he drives down the mound with some force. Good drive, easily seen with his rear leg as he pushes and lets his center of mass ride down the slope.

He has a medium arm action, hiding it well. Throws from a higher three-quarters angle. Though, he could do a better job getting out over the front foot and working through his release. From the stretch, it's a much quicker delivery, quick leg lift up around the letters, and hands stay at the letters the whole time. Same arm slot and arm stroke opens up the hips a bit quicker, too, it seems.

Here's an extended look at Madden on the mound.

Beyond the mechanics, Madden is a four-pitch guy. He was more of a three-pitch player coming out of college, but with refined usage of his changeup, he was able to build out that pitch mix. His fastball is a high-velocity pitch that can play up in the zone, and at times it gets some good plane to miss bats. He developed that ability to pitch up in the zone with comfort with the Tigers after predominantly living low in the zone. Still, better confidence has shown him grow in terms of fastball command and confidence to throw it.

The breaking ball has a sharp downward bite to it with a 12-6 shape that can miss barrels and take a similar flight out of hand, working the low-70s. The slider is in the low-to-mid-80s with good shape and is another pitch that misses barrels. It has good horizontal with some tilt to it, making a pitch he can pull the string on and cause swings and misses.

The change-up is still developing but has the potential to be an average fourth offering if he continues to utilize it as a part of his pitch mix. One thing I noticed with Madden's release and his pitch mix is that he does a pretty good job tunneling his pitches together, so they all look the same out of the hand.

Truthfully, this will cause deception for hitters trying to estimate the flight and velocity of pitches in those first milliseconds of the ball flight. Madden being able to keep refining that ability to tunnel is only going to help him improve.

The Tigers got a good one with Madden. He's continuing to develop and improve, which bodes well for him moving forward. He has the makings of a big-league starter. He's likely going to slot in as a middle-of-the-rotation guy, but if he can keep rising through the ranks, he will be able to get his chances in the big leagues.