The phrase “you can never have enough pitching” remains one of the truest realities when building a major league roster. So when news broke today that right-hander Troy Melton won’t be ready for the start of the 2026 season, it landed like a punch to the gut.

While there was plenty to take away from Detroit’s 16–8 win over the Phillies in Lakeland , the Tigers’ first victory of the spring, the bigger storyline still centered around the pitching staff. On the heels of Reese Olson being ruled out for the entire 2026 season to start the spring, news that Troy Melton won’t be ready for Opening Day raises a familiar question: who steps up?

Melton’s role after being called up from Toledo proved critical last season, serving as a reliable swingman when injuries tested the club’s depth. He logged 45.2 innings, including a seven-inning, five-hit shutout of the Diamondbacks in just his second career start, reinforcing why the organization was so high on his stuff.

Still, the Tigers found plenty of positives on the field Friday, breaking through for their first win of the spring with an offensive outburst led by Kevin McGonigle and the first appearance of Dillon Dingler this spring. 

Philadelphia struck first, taking a 2–0 lead through the first three innings on RBI hits from Pedro León and Johan Rojas, but Detroit’s offense began to wake up in the fourth. Dingler made an immediate impact in his spring debut, ripping an RBI double to left to put the Tigers on the board before Javier Báez followed moments later with a two-run homer to left-center, flipping the score and giving Detroit a 3–2 advantage.

The Tigers added on in the fifth when Kerry Carpenter doubled home Gleyber Torres, but the Phillies briefly erased the lead in the sixth, tying the game at 4–4 on a two-run single by Christian Cairo.

From there, Detroit’s lineup erupted.

The Tigers sent a parade of hitters to the plate in a six-run bottom of the sixth, highlighted by RBI singles from Tomás Nido, Trei Cruz,McGonigle and Woody Hadeen, along with a run-scoring double from Josue Briceño. Gage Workman capped the inning with a bases-clearing triple that blew the game open and pushed Detroit in front for good.

MLB's No. 2 prospect Kevin McGonigle collects two hits in ONE inning for the @Tigers:

107.7 mph double
108.3 mph RBI single pic.twitter.com/twj0nv6Pml

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 27, 2026

Philadelphia added two runs in the seventh on René Pinto’s homer, but the Tigers answered with one final insurance run on Briceño’s sacrifice fly to seal the 16–8 victory.

The offensive explosion offered a much-needed spark for a club still navigating early spring evaluations, and it came on a day when several young bats, led by McGonigle, and other strong performance by Cruz, against mainly Phillies minor leaguers but the batted ball data by McGonigle was loud, which has been the case all spring so far.

Kevin McGonigle with two hits over 107 MPH today. Tigers hitters did that just 5 times in a game in all of 2025:

Riley Greene 4x
Gleyber Torres on May 1st https://t.co/2CEt2riRwq

— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrown0914) February 27, 2026

More injury news

Beau Brieske, who is battling for a spot in the bullpen and a return to his 2024 form, is being treated day-to-day with spine inflammation.  The Tigers also assigned four pitchers to minor league camp, all of which, were coming back from injuries in right-handers, Phil Bickford, Dugan Darnell, Tyler Owens and Troy Watson. 

TV update 

The Tigers announced their broadcast schedule for the remainder of spring training schedule, which includes their own crew calling the game on Sunday, March 1st against Toronto before going on ESPN on Monday against the Braves. 

Games on March 1st, 7th, and 21st will be produced by the Tigers/MLB, featuring our broadcasters.

All games noted in the MLBtv and cable/satellite columns will be blackout-free in our home television territory.

— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) February 27, 2026

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