Tarik

Skubal

Don’t get me wrong, Skubal was great here. Any time a pitcher allows one run they can head back to the locker room and feel like they did their job. At the same time, he was not sharp in this one. The Diamondbacks scorched 11 hard-hit balls and Skubal had to work around all that hard contact to keep that lone run on the board. On top of that, the lowly seven swings-and-misses he forced tied his fewest in a single game going back to the start of the 2024 season. His pitch movements were mostly normal and velocity was fine, again he just wasn’t his usual sharp self. That’s what an ace does though: work a great start without their best stuff. Skubal is scheduled to face the Twins next time out.

The two-time reigning American League Cy Young award winner punched out six on the afternoon and did not allow a base on balls. The lone tally against him came on an RBI double off the bat of Xander Bogaerts in his final inning of work. Skubal got 11 swings and misses on 74 pitches on the day — nine of those on his changeup — while registering a CSW of 34 percent. As long as he stays healthy, there’s no reason to expect that he won’t challenge for the Cy Young award yet again. His next test will come on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Skubal’s final spring start was far from his best, although he did strike out five and didn’t issue a walk. The defending Cy Young winner will be on the bump against the Padres on Thursday in San Diego. If you’re at all concerned about Skubal’s spring numbers, maybe go for a walk or go see a movie and stop thinking about baseball for a while.

The run came on a Daulton Varsho homer in the fourth. Back from the World Baseball Classic, Skubal remains in line to start on Opening Day. He threw 44 of his 61 pitches for strikes today, and he has a 12/1 K/BB in 9 2/3 innings in his three spring starts for the Tigers.

Team USA could not guarantee Holmes enough innings to stay ready for the regular season, so back to Mets camp he goes. Also exiting the Team USA roster for the quarterfinal round are Michael Wacha, Ryan Yarbrough, and Tarik Skubal. Replacements for those three are Will Vest, Tyler Rogers, and Tim Hill. The team has not yet announced a replacement for Holmes, but Joe Ryan is expected to be in the mix.

The 29-year-old southpaw plans to leave after Monday’s contest against Mexico to rejoin the Tigers’ camp in Lakeland. Skubal had been pushing to make another start after taking the mound against Great Britain over the weekend, and it sounds like the Tigers were going to support his decision, so either he had a change of heart or his agent, Scott Boras, shut the idea down. Now he’ll finish getting himself ready for his Opening Day assignment against the Padres.

The original plan had been for the star southpaw to make just one start in the tournament before returning to Tigers’ camp, but Skubal said after Saturday’s start, “I didn’t expect these types of emotions to run through my brain or my thoughts to differ. I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp. Things have changed, obviously.” It’s nice to see that type of passion from the 29-year-old left-hander. Hopefully Boras and the Tigers sign off on the decision, and we get to see Skubal pitch for the Red, White and Blue once again during the tournament.

Skubal gave up a homer to Nate Eaton on the very first pitch of the game, but he retired nine of 10 after that, striking out five in the process. Ken Rosenthal tried to talk him into pitching again for Team USA after his outing, but Skubal deflected the question. It’s already been decided between he and the Tigers that he’d make just the one start.

Webb will be followed by Tigers ace Tarik Skubal against Great Britain before Pirates stalwart Paul Skenes toes the rubber against Mexico with Mets rookie sensation Nolan McLean rounding out the pool play rotation against Italy. The international showcase kicks off later this week with the quarterfinals set to begin on Friday, March 13.

We’re inclined to believe Nightengale on this one since Skubal is unlikely to approach the century mark in an abbreviated outing at this early stage of his ramp-up process. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner will head back to rejoin the Tigers following his lone outing during the international showcase.