Detroit Tigers Ace Inching Closer to Becoming Part of Major League History
While every team in the MLB wants to make the playoffs, it was always going to be a longshot for the Detroit Tigers to earn a spot in the postseason.
Still a couple years away in their rebuilding process, the writing was on the wall following the trade deadline that they were going to be watching the playoffs in the fall, once again, instead of participating in them.
But, after the Tigers decided to turn things over to their young players and started calling up their star prospects, they have played their best baseball of the season, and all of a sudden, they find themselves just 4.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.
7-3 in their last 10 contests entering Wednesday, and 18-12 since the start of August, Detroit could steal a spot in the playoffs if they are able to keep up this level of play and take advantage of the sliding Kansas City Royals.
One man who will power them whenever he's handed the ball is their ace Tarik Skubal.
Putting together an incredible year where he seems to be inching closer to winning the first Cy Young award of his career, all of a sudden that isn't the biggest storyline surrounding the Tigers coming down the final stretch of the season.
However, it should be pointed out that Skubal could be a huge part of Major League history if he continues to pitch the way he has throughout this campaign.
Tarik Skubal of the @tigers leads the AL in wins (16), ERA (2.51) and strikeouts (201).
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 4, 2024
Chris Sale of the @Braves leads the NL in wins (16), ERA (2.46) and strikeouts (206).
There has never been a season where a left-handed pitcher won the Triple Crown in both the AL and NL. pic.twitter.com/EghurCoOhP
Skubal has not only been dominant, he has a chance to etch his name into the history books even if Chris Sale isn't able to win the Triple Crown in the National League.
There have only been 17 AL pitchers to ever win the Triple Crown, the most recent being Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Prior to that, it was another Detroit pitcher in Justin Verlander who pulled off this rare feat back in 2011 when he won the Cy Young Award and MVP in the same year.
While Skubal won't be able to duplicate that because of how incredible of a season New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is putting together, there is a really good chance he takes home the coveted award and etches his own name into the history books as a Triple Crown winner.
And if Sale is able to keep a stranglehold on those categories in the National League, then both men will have accomplished something never seen before in Major League Baseball.
