CLEARWATER, FL – Ty Madden came out of the Detroit Tigers’ dugout and jogged to the mound in BayCare Ballpark, out in the sunshine – appearing like a long-lost figure suddenly back in view.
He licked his fingertips, picked up the ball and started warming up before pitching against the Philadelphia Philles on Wednesday, Feb. 25.
To many Tigers fans, Madden is the forgotten man. Or, at the very least, the forgotten arm.
It’s the old truth: Out of sight, out of mind.
And he’s certainly been out of sight for nearly a complete calendar year. Madden suffered a rotator cuff strain on March 3, 2025, after throwing two innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. And it was like – poof – he just disappeared, sent out for rehab.
But thankfully, Madden avoided surgery.
“Then we had a setback that was like June,” he said. “So that’s the one that put me out for the rest of the year.”
Back on the mound
So, that’s why this was such a big moment for Madden.
Just to be back on the mound. Back competing. That’s what he missed more than anything. “I was a little jittery – just from the excitement,” he said. “I’m so thankful to be back out there. It’s what I love to do. I love to pitch and wasn’t able to do that. I’m just so happy to be back out there.”
First up? None other than Kyle Schwarber, who hammered 56 home runs in 2025.
Yeah, welcome back, kid. Good luck with that.
Schwarber worked the count full, then Madden got him to fly out on a 90-mph cutter.
Let’s pause right there.
Because there is an interesting story behind that pitch for Madden.
“It’s been a good pitch for me,” Madden said. “It’s super important pitch in my repertoire.”
While he was doing rehab at TigerTown in 2025, he started tinkering with that pitch. “I’m really happy with the feel of it right now,” he said. “I was just finding what felt good and what came off the fingers, more consistent.”
So, yes, some good came out of that long rehab. He tinkered with his cutter and now it’s nasty. Or it was to Schwarber on Wednesday.
But there were other positives that came from that rehab. Madden became close with several other players, who were also going through rehab. And he learned about himself.
“I learned not take anything for granted,” he said. “Just take things day by day. Just being present, making the most of it every single day. It can get lonely here sometimes all year.”
Not lonely in the normal sense. There were plenty of people around.
“Lonely in competition,” he said.
He needs that in his life. It’s like a life force for him.
“One of the endearing qualities of Ty is his competitive spirit,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said on Feb. 14. “And that that’s been missing for a year.”
More huge at-bats to come
So, now there were two outs in that first inning.
Up came Bryce Harper, the two-time National League MVP.
Madden had him on the ropes, 0-2. Then, Madden got him to swing and miss at a cutter.
There’s that pitch again, working wonders. It proved nasty to Harper, too.
“It’s nice to have some external competition,” Madden said.
One more inning of work
In the second inning, he got Alec Brohm to pop out to second.
Adolis Garcia flew out to center.
And Justin Crawford hit a meek grounder to second.
“It feels great,” Madden said after he finished his two strong innings of work.
Great, indeed.
This was six up, six down.
This was Madden being a baseball player again.
This was proof that he can still pitch.
To remind everybody that he can help this team.
“It was a long year, just not being able to pitch,” he said about pitching the first two innings of a 5-3 loss. “It just felt good to be back out there, have some external competition, be back in the game. It just felt good.”
He threw 21 pitches, 14 for strikes.
And his post-game excitement wasn’t really about the numbers.
“No matter which way today would have gone,” he said. “I would have been excited to be healthy again, to be back on the mound. It’s not even results based. It’s just the fact that I’m proving to myself and to the people out there that I’m healthy again, and to the organization that I’m healthy again, and I’m ready to help this team in any way I can.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The forgotten man has suddenly appeared again for the Detroit Tigers
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
