Justyn-Henry Malloy's parents had incredible reaction to rookie's first career Tigers HR

When the Tigers sent down Spencer Torkelson, they held up their hands and admitted defeat after weeks of insisting that they'd let him figure out his offensive struggles in the majors. It was a blow, given that Torkelson was a first overall draft pick for the Tigers in 2020 and was supposed to be one of the new, young faces of the franchise. There's no doubt he'll be back in the majors as soon as he can find his swing again, but for now he has an uphill battle to fight.

Torkelson's demotion was the corresponding roster move after the team called up Justyn-Henry Malloy, their No. 6 prospect this year. Malloy was a sixth-round pick by the Braves in 2021; he came over in a 2022 trade (Scott Harris' first trade of his Tigers tenure) that sent reliever Joe Jiménez to Atlanta.

He joined the team on the road in Texas, where he went hitless through his first seven at-bats in two games. But patience is a virtue, and as the Tigers tried to complete a sweep of the Rangers in Game 3, Malloy stepped up in the sixth to get his first hit and first MLB home run in one swing.

His parents were in the stands throughout their son's debut series, and their reactions (especially his mom's) to his first career homer was priceless.

Justyn-Henry Malloy's first career hit for Tigers was a homer, and his parents were there to see it

Malloy's homer was also the only run the Tigers were able to get on the board that night; Kenta Maeda left the game after just two pitches and Detroit was forced into an impromptu bullpen game. The Rangers took advantage of cold reliever Joey Wentz, putting up three runs in the first 2 2/3 innings. Texas starter José Ureña was perfect outside of that Malloy homer, and reliever David Robertson gave up the only other Tigers hit of the night (also to Malloy!).

Despite the Tigers' disappointing offensive performance on Wednesday, Malloy became the first player whose first hit was a home run since baseball's No. 21 prospect Heston Kjerstad did it last season on Sept. 15. Hopefully, Malloy will be able to provide a much-needed offensive spark to the Tigers' lineup that Torkelson wasn't able to provide when he was still up.