The Tigers announced that right-hander Connor Seabold has been designated for assignment. The move opens up space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters for the return of righty Troy Melton, who has been activated from the 60-day injured list to start Game 2 of today’s doubleheader against the Orioles. Prior to Game 1, Detroit also placed left-hander Brant Hurter on the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 23) due to lumbar spine inflammation, and right-hander Ricky Vanasco was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Seabold signed a split deal with the Tigers just before the start of the season, and soon after the righty was released from a previous minor league contract with the Blue Jays. While Seabold broke camp with his new club, a big chunk of his time in Motown has been spent on the injured list, as he missed a little under three weeks recovering from ankle inflammation.
When healthy, Seabold has been pretty effective coming out of the pen, with a 3.45 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 15 2/3 innings. While other Tigers relievers have minor league options and Seabold doesn’t, he may have just been the victim of a roster crunch, as a 40-man spot was needed for Melton’s return.
Detroit now faces the possibility that Seabold is claimed away on waivers, or elects free agency if he clears waivers and is then outrighted (Seabold has been outrighted in the past, giving him the ability to decline future outright assignments). Seabold has a 7.28 ERA across his 134 2/3 career innings in the Show, but teams in need of immediate relief help may be swayed by his recent performance, or a slight uptick in velocity to 93.5mph from his previous 92.5mph career average.
After developing elbow inflammation during Spring Training, Melton is finally set to make his 2026 debut. The Tigers initially planned to use Melton as a reliever or swingman this season, but due to multiple injuries within the rotation, Melton will now step right into starting duty. The righty made his MLB debut in 2025 and posted a 2.76 ERA, 20K%, and 8.3BB% over his first 45 2/3 innings as a big leaguer, starting four of his 16 regular-season games.
Just as one pitcher gets healthy, however, Detroit’s seemingly nonstop parade of pitching injuries continues with Hurter’s IL placement. Hurter has a 2.84 ERA over 25 1/3 relief innings this season, despite very modest strikeout (17.8%) and walk (11.9%) rates. The groundball specialist is generating grounders at a 60.3% clip, and Hurter is getting a lot of benefit from a tiny .203 BABIP.
