Tigers rookie's demotion has baffled fans, but it might be a hidden compliment

Despite a worrisome MLB debut in which he gave up six runs in five innings, Tigers rookie Troy Melton came back with a vengeance in his second start, when he pitched seven scoreless and struck out five. Reese Olson's season ended just a few days before Melton's second start, so the rookie looked like the perfect replacement.

Just a few days later, however, the Tigers' trade deadline brought Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton to Detroit, and the team announced their intention to move Melton to the bullpen indefinitely.

With the way things have panned out for both, this looks like an entirely regrettable decision. Both Paddack and Morton have 5.00+ ERAs since the deadline, while Melton's is sitting at 2.25. He also gave the Tigers another scoreless start against the White Sox on Aug. 13, filling in for Tarik Skubal, who instead pitched a more high-leverage outing against the Twins the next day.

AJ Hinch's explanation for the move lent a little more clarity. "We feel like the best way to use him is to use him more often than every five-day randomness or every six-day randomness," he said. "It's an advantage to have Troy Melton available more often, even if it's just in shorter bursts. We may start him down the road this season. We might not."

AJ Hinch explains Tigers' questionable decision to move standout rookie Troy Melton to the bullpen after the trade deadline

Melton has settled in nicely to the Tigers' pitching chaos and has become a do-it-all reliever in the vein of Tyler Holton, who has been struggling this year. He pitched his longest relief outing against the Angels on Aug. 8 behind a rocky start for Tarik Skubal and only gave up a run in a game the Tigers eventually came back to win. Skubal was evidently so grateful for the pick-me-up that he gifted Melton a Louis Vuitton backpack shortly after.

Since then, Melton has pitched anywhere between one and three innings and has only given up a single earned run. If he were a lefty, he might have kicked Holton out of his role a month ago.

The Tigers have been employing a confusing bullpen strategy that's actually kind of working, and being able to trust Melton in seemingly any given situation has been a huge part of that effort. He'll definitely get a chance to audition for a more permanent spot in the 2026 rotation, but for now, the Tigers aren't trying to fix what isn't broken.