Passan: Dodgers are the favorite for Skubal

The Pirates jumped on Skubal right away, putting three runs on the board on three hits in the first inning. He then worked through more traffic in the second, stranding two runners. Skubal would recover nicely thereafter, tossing five more scoreless innings, completing seven while collecting 11 strikeouts. The 29-year-old left-hander will take a 2.91 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 146/21 K/BB ratio across 120 2/3 innings into a start against his former team in Detroit on Friday.

Skubal gave up seven hits and nine hard-hit balls, but he struck out seven and was let down by his defense a couple of times in the game. He’s now 0-2 for the Dodgers, even though he has a 3.18 ERA in his three starts. He’ll face the Pirates next weekend.

Jac Caglianone singled and homered to drive in all three runs. Skubal finished up with six strikeouts, four of which came on his fastball. He averaged 97.4 mph with that offering, his third highest mark of the season. He also came in at 97.3 mph last time out, so it looks like his stuff might be peaking at a good time for the Dodgers. He’ll likely face the Brewers on Sunday.

That means Tarik Skubal will be pushed back a day to make his home debut on Monday with Justin Wrobleski going in Sunday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Snell has been shelved since undergoing the NanoScope procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in May. He could wind up being a major difference maker for fantasy managers down the stretch.

Skubal allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in his first start since the blockbuster trade sent him from the Tigers to the Dodgers. He gave up a solo homer to Dansby Swanson in the third, and then an infield single from Nico Hoerner gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the sixth. His velocity was up over half a mile on both his four-seam fastball and sinker, and it’s feasible Skubal was just a little too amped with some command struggles at times. Still, a solid start for Skubal, and more often than not, this is gonna get it done behind the Dodgers’ lineup. He gets the Royals on Tuesday.

Skubal will make his debut with Los Angeles against one of the teams that will be competing with the Dodgers for the National League pennant. Fantasy managers were going to have the 29-year-old ace in their lineup, anyway, but it’s nice that they won’t have to wait too long to see him back on the bump.

The blockbuster deal which was reported late Saturday evening is now official. The two-time reigning American League Cy Young award winner joins an already star-studded Dodgers’ rotation as they look to make history by winning their third consecutive World Series title. It remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will be able to lock up the impending free agent long-term, but it would now be a catastrophic failure on their end if they don’t wind up winning another title. Skubal’s already sky-high fantasy value improves with the move to Los Angeles as he’s much more likely to rack up victories than he had been with the Tigers’ faulty bullpen working behind him.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Dodgers will send outfield prospect Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitching prospects River Ryan and Brady Smith. It was initially reported that Emmet Sheehan was included, but multiple outlets have confirmed he’s not headed to Detroit. Skubal is inarguably one of the best pitchers in baseball and has won back-to-back Cy Young Awards for the Tigers, and he joins Los Angeles with a 2.79 ERA and 116/14 K/BB in his 16 starts this year. The pending free agent will join the loaded Dodgers’ roster as the new ace, and obviously, fantasy managers have no reason to believe he won’t continue to pitch at an elite level now that he’s in Los Angeles rather than Detroit.

Skubal is the largest domino holding up the entire starting pitching market ahead of next week’s deadline. It’ll be fascinating to see whether Detroit hangs on until the last moment or they’re blown away by a “Godfather offer” that forces them to take action prior to Monday when the baseball world puts their proverbial pencils down. According to multiple reports, the Dodgers and Brewers are the overwhelming favorites to land Skubal considering their combination of big-league talent and loaded farm systems. Get your popcorn ready.

Passan added that Detroit will begin to engage with interested teams in the next day or two. Skubal recorded his 1,000th career strikeout while punching out six and allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings against the Orioles on Wednesday in what appears to be his final start in a Tigers uniform. The back-to-back Cy Young Award winner left the game with Detroit ahead 7-0, but they still wound up losing to drop four and a half games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. The general consensus, according to Passan, is that the Dodgers and Brewers are the clear frontrunners in the Skubal sweepstakes since they have the volume of prospects and big-league talent to facilitate a deal. Every contending team in baseball should be reaching out to try to land Skubal.