It’s Tarik Skubal time: With season on the line, Tigers turn to ‘best pitcher in the world’

IN THE SIXTH inning of Game 2 of the American League Division Series, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal threw the biggest pitch of his career. It was a 97 mph fastball down in the zone, a pitch that induced Cleveland Guardians hitter David Fry to bounce into an inning-ending double play and preserve a scoreless tie.

Shortly after came the signature moment of his postseason dominance: As he walked off the mound, the game broadcast showed Skubal yelling a few choice words at the Progressive Field crowd booing him.

“I probably shouldn’t say some bad words with some cameras on me with kids watching,” Skubal said after the start. “But it was just emotion, raw emotion.”

The show of emotion made the rounds on social media, with Skubal’s own mother, Laura, scolding her son in a response to one of the most popular posts — an irony noted by Skubal on Friday.

“It’s interesting my mom went to Twitter to say that,” he said. “You should hear my mom. I’ve seen her get ejected from plenty of high school basketball games.

“I guess it might run in the family there.”

That kind of competitive fire is why there is no pitcher on the planet to whom the Tigers would rather hand their season to in Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 5 in Cleveland. The best pitcher in the AL this year is now tasked with extending Detroit’s improbable postseason run.

“No moment is too big,” Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “There is so much conviction behind every pitch. So much fun to play behind. He’s special and he’s only just getting started.”

THE TIGERS MIGHT not have had the luxury of turning to the American League Cy Young favorite in an elimination game if not for one unexpected draft-day phone call in 2018.

After Detroit took righty Casey Mize with the No.1 overall pick, Tigers executive David Chadd got a call from an agent friend during the middle of the second round.

“Your best player isn’t even on your board,” the voice said.

The call was from Scott Boras, who had an early idea of what Skubal could become; former client Bill Caudill had recommended to check him out.

“My god — this guy has arm strength like you wouldn’t believe,” Boras told colleagues after seeing Skubal for the first time.

Skubal was not a well-known name in the scouting world; he had undergone Tommy John surgery the previous year and was playing college baseball at Seattle University. His junior year numbers were more OK than outstanding, especially given the mid-major competition he was facing: He had a 4.16 ERA, giving up 66 hits in 80 innings to go along with 106 strikeouts.

“He was coming off an injury so I don’t think the industry had a lot of looks at Tarik,” said Chadd, who works for the Philadelphia Phillies now. “We had minimal looks at Tarik.”

Chadd and then-Tigers scouting director Scott Pleis had doubts but were convinced enough to make Skubal a ninth-round draft pick. They paid him a $350,000 signing bonus — more than double slot value — to keep him from returning to college for his senior year.

Those doubts were erased as soon as Detroit’s brass got a look at him. They quickly realized they had something special.

“I think we knew immediately what we had when he first stepped on the mound,” Chadd said. “We were taken aback by the ability at that point.”

Skubal pitched well enough during his professional debut that summer to be promoted from rookie ball, first to Low-A Connecticut and then to Single-A West Michigan. From then on, he was seen in the organization in the same tier as first-round picks Mize and Matt Manning. Two years later, he joined the two more heralded pitchers on Kiley McDaniel’s 2020 list of the baseball’s top 100 prospects.

Even so, Skubal made his August 2020 MLB debut with little fanfare. He went 1-4 with a 5.63 ERA over eight games in the pandemic-shortened season but showed improvement the next year, making 29 starts with a 4.34 ERA in 2021. He took another big step in 2022, posting a 3.51 ERA. But another elbow injury shut him down 21 starts into his 2022 campaign. He underwent flexor tendon surgery in August, opting against a second Tommy John, which allowed him to return in July 2023. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the sport ever since.

“He deserves all the credit for taking the mindset into rehab of ‘I’m going to come back better than before I got hurt,'” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “He made some mechanical changes and developed his changeup while rehabbing. … He’s an intense competitor. And his stuff plays in the zone which keeps him pitch efficient.”

Thanks to Detroit’s unexpected October run, a national audience is now seeing what those who have watched — and faced — Skubal have seen for more than a year now.

Skubal is just the fifth pitcher to begin a postseason career with multiple scoreless starts of at least six innings. In his first postseason outing, he stymied the Houston Astros in Game 1 of their wild-card series, showing off stuff that had baseball buzzing. He did the same in Game 2 of this series, shutting out the Guardians over seven innings.

Watching at home, Oakland Athletics slugger Brent Rooker, who has 15 plate appearances against Skubal, second most of any pitcher in his career, took to social media to express his admiration.

“What makes it elite is how he maintains his arm speed on his changeup,” Rooker told ESPN in a phone conversation after Game 2. “There is nothing in the delivery that tells you it’s coming. Nothing. And it has good fade to his arm side which plays well off his fastball. Combine that with his pitchability, he’s at the top of his game.”

That ability to command his pitches has only gotten better since he returned last season. Previously, Skubal relied on his high-velocity four-seam fastball, but this year, he’s incorporated his changeup and slider more often. And though he’s throwing his heater less frequently, those off-speed pitches are coming in faster. In fact, in ALDS Game 2, his changeup averaged 87.8 mph, topping off at 90.4. League average on changeups is 85 mph.

“It’s just on you,” Rooker said. “He’s fiery, competitive. It’s always a fun battle.”

The skill set and the competitive spirit saw Skubal lead the majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts — and become the runaway favorite to collect his first Cy Young award next month.

“That’s one reason I asked him to sign a ball late in the season,” Rooker said. “I like doing that stuff with great players.”

No one has a better seat for Skubal’s dominant displays than his Tigers teammates, who have appreciated watching a rise to greatness from a fellow homegrown player. They’re as amazed as anyone.

“I want to ask him, ‘How does it feel to walk out on the mound knowing you’re the best pitcher in the world?'” reliever Beau Brieske said recently. “I’d like to know what that feels like, to be quite honest.”

And on Saturday, with a chance to lead Detroit to an American League Championship Series showdown with the New York Yankees, Skubal will walk to the Progressive Field mound hoping to amaze them again.

“He’s got it all,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “He’s a unit on the mound. He’s got crazy deception. He throws 100. He has two different fastballs. He has wipeout off-speed. He’s the ultimate competitor.

“He’s every team’s dream to have as an ace. That guy is as good as it gets in our league.”