Troy Melton News: Early favorite for No. 5 spot?
Melton is likely to enter spring training in a strong position to earn Detroit's final rotation spot, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.
This echoes what Detroit's front office said at the end of last season, and an Opening Day rotation spot would certainly be warranted after Melton posted a 2.76 ERA and 1.01 WHIP across 45.2 innings as a rookie in 2025. The 25-year-old only made four starts last year, with his other 12 appearances coming in relief, so he'll likely need to stretch out some in spring training and show that he's capable of a larger workload. If Melton does slot into the rotation, he'll likely be behind Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty and Reese Olson, but any chance to start would give the former a boost in fantasy value.
