Ty Madden has a lot of upside. A four-pitch pitcher who commands the mound well has landed Madden at #5 in the Detroit Tigers pipeline. Madden hides his pitches well, and the ball explodes out of his release. Coming out of the University of Texas, Madden was a three-pitch pitcher, but he refined his changeup and has four plus pitches in his arsenal.
Ty Madden possesses a high-velocity fastball that plays up in the zone leading to a lot of swings and misses sitting at 93-97 MPH. A sharp 12-6 bite on his breaking ball also plays well in missed swings, as the pitch sits in the low 70s. The slider he throws ranges in the low to mid 80s and is thrown for strikes; while his changeup is still a work in progress that started to find the strike zone more often as last season moved along.
Madden moved from High-A Ball last season to Double-A with the Erie Seawolves, where he is expected to be placed once spring training ends. The goal set for him this year is to work his changeup into an out pitch. This would give the four-pitch pitcher a quicker path to Detroit, where there is little question he will end up in the Tigers’ starting rotation.
Madden also must clean up pitching from behind, which led to him giving up too many runs last season. While the Tigers’ minor leagues need an overhaul, both Jackson Jobe and Ty Madden can provide some solid pitching if properly developed. Madden is expected to take the next step in development this season and should be in Triple-A at some point, with a possible September call-up to Detroit for a look.
For the rebuilding Tigers, there is pressure on both Jobe and Madden to hit their projections as starting MLB pitchers; if they can, then Detroit can feel good as they continue to build from the minor leagues up. This would be the best-case scenario for the organization.
