Tigers' Troy Melton pushing the envelope with another strong rehab start

New York — It’s going to be difficult to temper the enthusiasm on this.

Tigers right-hander Troy Melton made a rehab start at Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday. He pitched into the third inning, allowed two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He threw 54 pitches, 33 strikes and got 10 whiffs on 25 swings.

He got at least one swing and miss with each of his six pitches. His fastball averaged 95.6 mph and topped out at 98.7.

Impressive and encouraging. But he’s still at least two weeks away from being even a decision point for the Tigers.

Tigers pitcher Troy Melton, coming back from elbow inflammation, is eligible to come off the IL on May 24.

As manager AJ Hinch said before the game, Melton has been on the 60-day injured list with elbow inflammation and he’s not eligible to come off until May 24. And, since the Tigers are building him up to start, he’s going to have to clear a few more hurdles ahead of that date.

He made two rehab starts at Low-A Lakeland and pitched a total of 4⅔ innings. He dominated the level to the point where he wasn’t able to build his pitch count during the competition. He was getting his outs too quickly and had to throw more pitches in the bullpen after his outings to reach his workload target.

Leveling up to Triple-A made him grind a bit more, which is what he needs.

He is expected to make two more starts with Toledo before May 24. He will likely be extended to 70-75 pitches next time out.

He’s trending in a positive direction, but the Tigers aren’t ready to circle any target dates for his return just yet.

Two relievers made rehab appearances with the Mud Hens on Tuesday. Right-handers Beau Brieske (groin) and Connor Seabold (ankle) each threw a scoreless inning. Brieske threw 19 pitches with 11 strikes and struck out two. Seabold threw 13 pitches, five strikes.