CHICAGO – Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Troy Melton experienced forearm tightness and soreness in his throwing arm while pitching in the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, Sept. 20.
He was taken out of the game and will undergo tests on Monday.
“It's just general tightness and soreness,” Melton said after the Tigers lost 8-1 at Rate Field, ending any hopes of the postseason. “There are days where you get twinges like that, and it goes away. You don't think about it again. Then you do some work on it, and it's gone. It just never went away.”
Any issues with Melton’s throwing arm raise instant concerns because he had issues earlier this season. Melton,
25, was diagnosed in late February with right elbow inflammation. He went on the 60-day injured list and returned to action May 24.
“It's hard without knowing exactly for sure what's going on, but I don't think they're related,” Melton said. “As of what I know right now, I wouldn't say they're similar. I mean, obviously similar body part, I guess, but I don't think it's the same thing.”
Melton was not sharp in this game. He threw just 47 of his 83 pitches for strikes. He said he started to feel the forearm issue while warming up before the fourth inning. “I kind of felt a little bit of tightness just in my forearm and kind of expected it to go away,” he said. “It kind of just never did. It got achy and tight on me pretty quick and never got any better as the inning progressed. So just kind of stayed tight.”
He tried to stretch out his arm on the mound. “Without raising super alarm flags,” he said. “There was no individual pitch that set it off or anything like that.”
Tigers catcher Eduardo Valencia noticed something wrong and went to the mound.
“I was good enough to go for the next hitter,” Melton said. “I was just trying to get it to a place where it felt better, and just never did.”
Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter went out to the mound. As soon as Fetter heard about the arm issue, he motioned for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer to come to the mound.
“Fett went out to just calm down the inning in the moment,” Hinch said. “Then when Fett turned around, that's when I went out. So Troy just said he didn't feel great, so we're gonna get him checked out.”
He will undergo tests on Monday.
“He reported some achiness and some issue with his arm, so I we're gonna get him checked out [Monday], kind of full examination,” Hinch said. “As soon as he started saying he was uncomfortable, we took him out of the game. So I haven't seen him since, and we'll hope for the best tomorrow. But we'll see how the how the tests come back.
Melton was taken out with the White Sox holding a 3-0 lead. He threw 3⅔ innings, giving up four hits and four runs. He struck out four while walking three.
“I saw the non-command, but there was no issue until Fett motioned me out,” Hinch said.
The game started after a 3-hour, 50-minute rain delay. With just a week left in the regular season and no shared open dates, they had to get this game in because the White Sox are fighting for the playoffs. So, they started in a rainstorm. It looked like it was raining sideways, as fans sat in the stands wearing ponchos and trash bags with holes cut out for the arms and head, and puddles formed around the edges of the field.
Melton did not feel the conditions played any role in his arm issue.
“I've pitched in the cold and the rain before,” Melton said. “It's not like it was something that super affected me. But yeah, honestly, the mound held up pretty well. It wasn't too bad.”
Melton, in his second big-league season, had something of a coming-out party, entering Sunday with a 2.52 ERA over 110⅔ innings with 90 strikeouts and 34 walks.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Troy Melton injury update as Tigers RHP says 'twinges' chased him
