Detroit Tigers Ace Named MLB's Biggest Breakout Star
The Detroit Tigers knew they had a star on their hands heading into 2024, but they might not have known he would soon become one of the best pitchers in all of MLB.
As Jim Bowden of The Athletic put together a list of the biggest breakout stars of this past year, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal unsurprisingly took the top spot.
Skubal has a very realistic chance at walking away from this season with a triple crown and should be the unanimous Cy Young winner, in the same year that he was named to his first All-Star game.
"Detroit manager A.J. Hinch told me during 2021 spring training that Skubal was the best pitching prospect in their organization and that he wouldn’t be surprised if the lefty eventually won a Cy Young Award," said Bowden. "Three years later, his prediction is about to come true as Skubal has gone 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 192 innings. He leads the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, ERA+ and FIP. He’s the game’s biggest breakout player in 2024."
Props to the Tigers scouting department as they got a steal in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB draft when they took a polarizing pitcher out of Seattle University that was not far off of a Tommy John surgery.
He had a ton of issue with control in college, he walked 6.3 batters per nine innings in 2018, but struck them out at an impressive rate.
They nearly immediately felt great about the decision to pay him above slot value to come to Detroit as he had an incredible professional debut that saw him rise to Double-A by the end of his first year.
By 2020, he made his MLB debut but had just a 5.63 ERA in 32 innings pitched.
That didn't sway them to move him back down the minors, though, as he has been a starter ever since.
The southpaw faced plenty of injury issues in the years that followed, but continued to show substantial growth each season.
He didn't start his 2023 campaign until July, but finished the campaign incredibly strong which gave him a ton of momentum to enter 2024.
The 27-year-old has been so good this season that fans and media members floated the idea of trading him before he came back down to earth.
In the months since the deadline, the Tigers have looked smart for making the easy decision to keep him around as he's been a key part of their turnaround down the stretch.
He should continue to be the face of the franchise at least until he hits free agency at the end of the 2026 campaign.
