Troy Melton has excelled since returning to the mound in late May. Over nine starts comprising 55 innings, the 25-year-old Detroit Tigers right-hander has won five of six decisions while logging a 1.80 ERA and a 3.86 FIP. Sidelined for the initial two months of the season due to elbow inflammation, he is back to being one of baseball’s most-promising young pitchers.
What most stands out about Melton’s campaign to date? From an arsenal perspective, the answer has to be his cutter. Last season, he threw the pitch at a 10.8% clip to the tune of a .368 BAA and a 12.8% whiff rate. This year, the offering has elicited a .083 BAA and a 26.0% whiff rate while being thrown at a nearly-double 20.5% clip.
Why the increased reliance on his cutter, and why has it been so effective?
“I didn’t really change anything, which is the weirdest part,” Melton told me in the days leading up to the All-Star break. “I’ve just been throwing it way, way harder and getting a lot of swing-and-miss. I’ve been throwing my slider harder, too. I got one up to 91 [mph] in my last start, which is well above what I’d been doing previously.
“It’s definitely interesting,” the second-year big-leaguer continued. “It’s not even something I consciously changed, it’s just that I’ve had a little bit more intent. I realized that my intent wasn’t high enough, so I literally started trying to throw harder, and that didn’t sacrifice any execution. I’ve been executing just as good, if not better. My cutter has been kind of been the leading beneficiary of that.”
In terms of velocity, Melton’s cutter is averaging 92.2 mph, up from 90.9 mph in his rookie campaign. Locating the pitch better has likewise been a factor in its success, as has its role in his attack plan.
“We’ve been using the cutter a lot more early in counts, especially to righties, explained Melton, who has thrown 74 cutters to same-sided hitters and 88 cutters to opposite-sided hitters. “We didn’t really use the cutter to righties at all last year, and now I’m using it as a weapon against them. I’ve also been getting good results against lefties, so it’s just been performing well for me. Last year, it honestly wasn’t very good. This year it has transformed into a much better pitch.”
Previously featured
here at FanGraphs in August, 2023, and
again in September of last year, Melton is 8-3 with a 2.24 ERA over 100-and-two-thirds regular-season MLB frames. His ledger also includes an eight-inning outing in which he surrendered just one run against the Seattle Mariners in last October’s ALDS.
