by CLEVELAND — Eight years ago, Tarik Skubal was a college pitcher recovering from Tommy John surgery and his eyes were set on Progressive Field. Skubal watched the entire 2016 World Series, one of his favorite baseball postseason memories, from afar. “For whatever reason, that intrigued me,” Skubal said.
On the night the Tigers unexpectedly received their postseason bid, Skubal brought back that memory. He talked about Game 7, the Rajai Davis home run, the rain delay, the Cubs rally in Cleveland and breaking the curse. Someone asked Skubal if he could have ever imagined back then that he would be on a postseason stage like this just a few years later. The easiest thing would be to say yes. To have the courage to act as if he had foreseen this as his fate.
Skubal chose a more honest path.
“Hell no,” he said. “These guys were like idols. … Look at the Cubs’ ’16 roster. They were full of players. But to answer the question: No, I thought I was on a completely different level than them. But yes, here I am.”
Nowadays Skubal is a teammate of Javier Báez. Scott Harris, then the Cubs’ head of baseball operations, now runs the Tigers. And Skubal is the ace, appearing in a Division Series elimination game – where else? — Progressive Field.
The Tigers have relied on Skubal’s abilities all season. They are 23-10 in games he starts. He was her workhorse and her emotional strength. In ALDS Game 2, Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings. He showed his usual wild emotion. After missing an inning, he stalked off the field and cameras caught his curses as he told the home crowd to be silent.
His mother Laura replied to X: “Tarik Daniel!!”
Tarik Daniel!!
— Laura Skubal (@lskubal) October 7, 2024
On the Friday before the Tigers’ practice in Cleveland, Skubal sat in the lower level interview room and cocked his head. He has not yet been grounded.
“You should listen to my mother,” he said. “She wants to make that comment, but I’ve seen her get ejected from a lot of high school basketball games. I guess it might run in the family.”
The elevated blood pressure that Skubal brings should be no different on Saturday. When asked what it will be like to see Skubal in an elimination game, Tigers manager AJ Hinch became sarcastic.
“Completely calm,” Hinch said. “No breakouts. No energy.”
When it comes to emotions, Skubal laughs. He’s always been that way, he said. It was even more pronounced during his time at Seattle University. “Everyone there, the difficult thing continues there,” he said. He wore his emotions on his sleeve as a high school basketball player and in pickup games with his brothers. Don’t expect anything to change in Game 5.
Skubal’s emotional intensity has become more than just a part of his brand. His roars and punches have become a source of fuel for the entire Tigers team. In just eight years, he’s gone from a college kid looking in awe at the great players to a full-fledged, confident beast. Not only does he belong here, he has also become the best in the game.
“I know how important every game is to him and I know what it means to put him on the mound to build confidence in our team,” Hinch said. “He’s going to handle it like the pro he is and attack the strike zone, attack the hitters. He loves competition. He’s as excited about it as anyone I’ve ever put on the mound.”
On Thursday night, the Tigers were seven outs away from winning Game 4 before David Fry hit a home run and their chance to win evaded them. Concluding the series in Detroit would have been the optimal scenario. But in a quiet clubhouse after that loss, one player after another showed the same confidence: The Tigers’ ace on the mound in an elimination game isn’t so bad, either.
“He’s built for the moment,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “All the trust of the world rests in him.”
“We have Skubal on the mound,” said outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, “so I think our chances are good.”
Even the opposing team doesn’t deny exactly what’s coming: “He just has everything,” said Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges. “He’s a unit on the mound. He has a crazy delusion. He throws 100. He has two different fastballs. He has off-speed wipeout. He is the ultimate competitor. Every team’s dream is to have him as their ace.”
Ahead of the biggest start of his career, Skuba spouted many of the platitudes you’d expect. Game where the winner takes everything. The cards are below. You go out and play. Preparing for this launch is like any other. Skubal will place his packages of Welch’s Fruit Snacks and Honey Stinger Energy Waffles on a white Gatorade towel, as he always does. He will fire fastballs and spin sliders. He will scream and show emotions. This game happens to be the biggest and most consequential of his young career.
“That’s why you play the game,” Skubal said, “for moments like this and phases like this.”
(Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)
