Drafting and developing starting pitching was the blueprint for the Tiger’s rebuild. Casey Mize was the first overall pick in the 2018 draft. Matt Manning was a first round selection in the 2016 draft. Jackson Jobe was a top three selection in the 2021 draft. Despite the investment Detroit has made at the top of the draft, its best pitcher was not as highly touted as a prospect.
Tarik Skubal was selected in the ninth round of the 2018 draft out of Seattle University. His college career was impacted by Tommy John surgery in 2016. Since the missed season in 2017, Skubal has been effective at every level.
Skubal’s minor league career was, in a word, dominant. In 2018, he rose through three ranks of minor league baseball and posted an ERA of 0.40, a WHIP of 0.851 and averaged over 13 strikeouts per nine innings.
The strikeout numbers remained stellar early in his MLB career, but Skubal was susceptible to giving up home runs. He broke a Detroit franchise record by becoming the fastest player to record 200 strikeouts. It took only 38 appearances to accomplish this feat.
Skubal has drastically limited the amount of home runs given up in his third major league season. Over his first two years, he gave up over two per nine innings. Now, he is currently giving up only 0.3 per nine innings. This has allowed him to remain in games and step into the role of an ace.
All-Star production
The last Tigers starting pitcher to be named an All-Star was David Price in 2015. Skubal is on track to break that streak in 2022. Truly, his numbers certainly warrant the recognition.
Skubal currently ranks in the top ten of American league pitchers in a plethora of categories. These include ERA, WHIP, walks per nine, strikeouts per nine, FIP and more.
On top of those shining numbers, Skubal also had a streak of 21 scoreless innings. It lasted over four starts and was the longest such streak by a starter in the MLB this season.
Detroit has had an extremely disappointing season thus far. Injuries have continued to pile up, especially starting pitchers, but Skubal has been an incredible story and proven himself as a bonafide ace moving forward. All-Star should be the expectation now for Skubal, Cy Young should be the goal.
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