Detroit acquired Malloy and lefty Jake Higginbotham from Atlanta in a December 2022 trade that sent right-handed Joe Jimenez to the Braves. Jimenez has dealt with injuries but has done strong work in Atlanta’s bullpen when healthy. The Tigers haven’t shown much about their end of the deal. Malloy hit .209 in 357 at bats in his two big league stints with the club. He is shooting a whopping 32.8% at the MLB level. Higginbotham spent two seasons in Detroit’s minor league system and reached the top ranks at Triple-A (one game). He signed with San Diego as a minor league free agent last offseason.
The Braves took Malloy in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He zoomed through the system and reached Triple-A in 2022. Malloy compiled an excellent 144 wRC+ across three levels that season. MLB.com ranked him seventh among Detroit’s 2023 prospects. He hit 23 home runs at Triple-A in his first season in the organization. Malloy continued to do damage with Toledo in 2024, though his strikeout rate rose to 28%. He was promoted in June and spent most of the rest of the season with the Tigers. Malloy showed some power with eight home runs, but he struck out at a whopping 37%.
Malloy has a good feel for the strike zone, as evidenced by a career 12% walk rate and a sub-20% chase rate. Making contact when he chooses to swing has been the problem. Malloy had a significant odor percentage of 36.6% in 2024. He improved that number to 29.1% this past season, although that figure was still well below average. Malloy lowered his strikeout rate to a reasonable 25.2% in 2025. Unfortunately, his batted ball stats dipped. Malloy posted a decent 37.8% hit rate in his rookie year, but this dropped to 31.1% this season. After recording double-digit barrel prices in 2024, that figure fell to 4.1% this year.
Most of Malloy’s at-bats came as a DH or pinch-hitter in 2025. He has totaled -4 outs above average in his career. Malloy emerged as a third baseman, but he has only played the outfield since joining the Detroit organization. He was a first-round prospect and is leaning toward a DH-only future.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
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