CLEVELAND — Left-hander Tarik Skubal, the only healthy starter remaining from the Detroit Tigers‘ Opening Day roster, has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this month.
In four starts, the 25-year-old has a 0.75 ERA with five walks and 30 strikeouts over 24 innings, facing the Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians. Skubal will make one more start in May: Thursday against the Guardians at Comerica Park.
His left leg contusion won’t set him back.
The Tigers, decimated by injuries to the starting rotation, can’t afford to lose him.
“I’m trying to control what I can control, and that’s me throwing the baseball,” Skubal said after Friday’s 6-1 loss to the Guardians. “I have no say in anything else other than that, than me controlling each pitch that I get to throw. There hasn’t been any added pressure or anything like that.”
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Skubal hobbled to the dugout after the fifth inning Friday. A line drive with a 100.4 mph exit velocity drilled him in the left shin. He didn’t return but finished with five strikeouts and no walks over five scoreless innings, throwing 49 of 66 pitches for strikes.
He gave up two runs to the Astros (May 5), then went seven scoreless against the Athletics (May 10), six scoreless against the Orioles (May 15) and five scoreless against the Guardians (Friday).
His strike rate is 68.3%, up from last year’s 64.8%. His strikeout rate has improved from 25.9% to 28.4%, his walk rate has improved from 7.4% to 4.6% and his home-run rate has improved from 5.5% to 1.1%.
“His execution of the game plan has been phenomenal,” Hinch said. “He’s a horse. He can handle the burden of being one of the last guys standing from the original rotation, health-wise, but he also gives us a chance every game. … His mentality is pretty fierce. He’s developing into a nice pitcher.”
Skubal, in his third MLB season, boasts a 2.22 ERA with eight walks and 50 strikeouts in 44⅔ innings over eight starts. He has pitched 47 games (44 starts) in his career, and he keeps getting better.
“The stuff that he has, it’s unbelievable,” said reliever Michael Fulmer, a former starter, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year and a top-10 finisher in Cy Young voting that year. “It’s some of the best stuff I’ve ever got to personally experience. I think he’s going to have a long, successful career. Hopefully, he wins a couple Cy Youngs in his career. He’s definitely got the stuff for it.”
Fulmer said he first noticed Skubal’s potential in 2020. Skubal made his MLB debut that August, and Fulmer hadn’t yet moved to the bullpen. At the time, Fulmer had barely returned from Tommy John surgery. He was rehabbing in the majors, limited to three innings a start during the shortened season — and canceled minor-league season — due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skubal, a ninth-round pick out of Seattle University in 2018, impressed Fulmer from the beginning.
“I said it back in 2020 when he first came up: He’s got some of the rawest stuff I’ve seen,” Fulmer said. “The talent level and the pitches he has is just unbelievable. You can see over the last two and a half seasons how much he’s honed in on his control, command and lack of walks. It’s paying off for him now.”
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So, where does Skubal stack up among the Tigers’ starters?
Right now — because of the injuries — he’s easily the best arm. There isn’t much competition, considering fellow former top prospects Casey Mize and Matt Manning are injured. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, signed to a five-year, $77 million contract last fall, landed injured list Sunday with a left ribcage sprain.
Still, Skubal is exceeding expectations and emerging as the team’s ace. He has a knack for putting zeros on the scoreboard, even when his offense isn’t pulling its weight. The Tigers feel confident when he’s on the mound.
Skubal’s 2.22 ERA ranks sixth best for Tigers pitchers, since the start of the 1984 season, through their first eight starts. He trails Jack Morris (1.85 ERA, 1984), David Wells (1.86 ERA, 1993), Justin Verlander (1.93 ERA, 2013), Max Scherzer (2.04 ERA, 2014) and Anibal Sanchez (2.05 ERA, 2013).
In 2022, Skubal has thrown 19 scoreless innings in a row.
His 1.8 fWAR is second-best in the majors.
“The term ‘ace’ is variable, you can do different things,” Fulmer said. “I remember when I was a starter, I always had relievers come up to me. They joked around, but they said, ‘Hey, the bullpen is a little taxed now. We need you to go seven.’
“But he’s that guy for us. He’s always going to get deep into games. He’s not going to walk anybody. His pitch count is never going to get too high. He’s going to go six, seven and hopefully eight, nine innings sometimes. He’s just that one guy we have that’s guaranteed to give the bullpen a little bit of a break and get us to the back end to win games.”
Fulmer reflects
The Tigers’ pitching staff, anchored by Skubal, is plagued with five injured starting pitchers: Rodriguez (left ribcage sprain), Mize (right elbow sprain), Manning (right shoulder inflammation), Michael Pineda (right middle finger fracture) and Tyler Alexander (left elbow sprain).
All the injuries led Fulmer, who started 85 games from 2016-20, to reflect on his setbacks.
“It’s tough, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Fulmer said. “You don’t want to risk their careers, their injuries on games, you want to save them for the longevity of their career. You’re thinking past this point. If it means a month or two now, it could save careers.”
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Fulmer, now 29, missed the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery in March 2019, after recovering from right knee surgery in September 2018.
Before elbow surgery, the Tigers pulled Fulmer out of the spring training rotation because of low velocity. He entered spring training with a brace on his knee but eventually ditched it.
“The knee wasn’t fully healthy whenever I came back,” Fulmer said.
Fulmer completed the Tigers’ knee rehabilitation plan, so he doesn’t think there’s anything else he could’ve done to preserve his health. Pitching through pain, he changed his mechanics to overcompensate for his ailing knee.
Fulmer, once considered the Tigers’ ace of the future, said he “absolutely” believes knee surgery led to elbow surgery.
“You start trying to regenerate things, and ultimately, something else is going to give out that’s not used to that much effort,” Fulmer said. “That’s why I had a more moderate anxiety level when velo was down this year and last year. I didn’t want to go pressing anything else and then hurt something else.”
This season, Fulmer has a 3.52 ERA with eight walks and 11 strikeouts in 15⅔ innings. Recently, he hasn’t been sharp, allowing six runs with six walks and three strikeouts in his past five innings.
His fastball velocity averages 93.4 mph, down from 95.5 mph last season.
“One easy tweak, one easy fix, mechanical change, whatever it might be,” Fulmer said. “But you don’t want to press and chase velo some other way. … If velo’s not there, you got to try to figure out other ways to get guys out. If it is there, everything’s good.”
Something extra
• Triple-A Toledo outfielder Akil Baddoo was placed on the Mud Hens’ injured list Saturday with an oblique strain. He sustained the injury in the batting cage. The 23-year-old hasn’t played since May 13. The Tigers demoted Baddoo on May 9, after he opened 2022 with a .140 batting average, five walks and 15 strikeouts in 17 MLB games. He has played just two games in Triple-A this season.
• Utility player Kody Clemens, a member of the Tigers’ 40-man roster, continues to rake for Toledo, hitting .303 (50-for-165) with nine doubles, six triples, eight home runs, 30 RBIs, eight walks and 44 strikeouts in 40 games. Clemens, a left-handed hitter, has 15 starts at second base, 10 at third base, nine in left field and six at first base. On Saturday, the 26-year-old went 3-for-4 with two triples, three RBIs and two walks. Clemens is the Tigers’ No. 18 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
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• Right-hander Wilmer Flores shined in his Double-A Erie debut, firing five scoreless innings on one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts. To earn his promotion, the 21-year-old posted a 1.83 ERA with two walks and 35 strikeouts in 19⅔ innings for High-A West Michigan. Flores is the Tigers’ No. 15 prospect.
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• Also pitching for Erie, right-hander Reese Olson has a 3.60 ERA with seven walks and 54 strikeouts in 35 innings over eight games (seven starts). The 22-year-old notched 10 strikeouts over five innings in his May 15 start, then 11 strikeouts over 4⅔ innings in his May 20 start. The Tigers acquired Olson from the Milwaukee Brewers at the July 2021 trade deadline in exchange for left-handed reliever Daniel Norris. Olson is the Tigers’ No. 17 prospect.
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.