Tarik Skubal might've unofficially named a future Tigers ace with clubhouse tradition

Although Troy Melton's relegation to a long relief role out of the Tigers' bullpen was questionable at the time, there's no question that he'll get more opportunities as a starter in 2026. He had a rocky MLB debut that had fans worried, but followed it up with a scoreless seven-inning outing against the Diamondbacks. He was pushed to the bullpen after Detroit acquired two starters at the trade deadline, but both Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton will be free agents when the season's over.

The Tigers shifted course, though, giving Melton the start on Wednesday against the White Sox in what was a 1-0 victory for Detroit. The right-hander tossed five scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He struck out six batters on an efficient 56 pitches. It's unclear why, but some have wondered if the Tigers didn't want to waste a Tarik Skubal start against the lowly White Sox. As of now, it's unclear if Melton will remain in the rotation, but it's possible one of Skubal's recent gestures might give us an answer.

Skubal will be the Tigers' ace for as long as they have him. He, like Melton, is a product of the Tigers' farm system, had a rocky landing in the majors in 2020, and was occasionally pushed into long relief in the first few years of his career.

Skubal understands Melton's trajectory better than most, and it seems that he's been impressed by what he's seen so far. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported that Skubal gifted Melton a $3,000 Louis Vuitton bag on Friday.

"It was the spur of the moment," Skubal said. "It wasn't planned. I saw the backpack he was wearing, and I wasn't a fan of it, so I told him he had until the end of the day to pick one out, and he did. I took care of him."

It carried on an unofficial tradition started by former Tigers ace Eduardo Rodríguez, who gifted Skubal a backpack and sunglasses in 2022.

Tarik Skubal carried on an unofficial Tigers clubhouse tradition by gifting rookie Troy Melton a Louis Vuitton backpack

Rodríguez was the Tigers' Opening Day starter in 2022 and 2023, and Skubal's gotten the honor ever since. Of course, Tigers fans would like to see Skubal continue to be Detroit's ace for many years beyond 2026, but in the event that he isn't, he may have just crowned his successor.

Melton is currently the Tigers' highest-ranked pitching prospect. There are other exciting ones below him in the pipeline, and Jackson Jobe will hopefully return to form when he recovers from Tommy John, but it was the first gift Skubal's ever made to a rookie.

Melton's ERA has been dropping since his debut yielded a 10.80 ERA. In his last time out, he pitched 3 1/3 innings behind Skubal, who gave up four runs in his shortest outing of the season. Melton gave up a run, but the Tigers took advantage of Angels reliever Reid Detmers to pull ahead and win the game.

Maybe Skubal was just grateful for the pick-me-up, but maybe he also just crowned a new ace, who Tigers fans now want as their No. 2 the rest of the year.