Detroit Tigers Boss Hints at Big Change in Cy Young Contender’s Workload
The Detroit Tigers have a Cy Young contender in Tarik Skubal.
The left-hander is coming off six quality innings against the New York Yankees in the Little League Classic on Sunday. He walked away with a no-decision, as the Tigers rallied to win, 3-2, in the 10th inning. But Skubal one earned run on three hits, as he walked four and struck out five.
He is now 14-4 with a 2.49 ERA. He has struck out 185 and walked 33 as batters are hitting just .197 against him. For a pitcher that had never won more than eight games in a single season, the 27-year-old is having a watershed year.
That could be the reason why Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said after Skubal’s outing on Sunday that it “could very well be his last start on regular rest." He talked about that with MLB Network after the game.
“It’s important for us to be very aware, which we are, and it’s also important for us to watch what he’s doing,” Hinch said. “He’s a guy who works tremendously hard. He’s put himself in a really good position. He’s in an incredible routine. He has stuck to it . . . It’s not something we really want in the back of his head. We’re controlling the things we can control. He continues to go out and dominate, continues to put in good effort between starts. We’re giving him extra rest . . . But he’s done the work. You’ve got to reward players when they’ve done the work with giving them a chance to compete.”
After Sunday’s outing he led qualified AL pitchers in win, ERA and strikeouts. That would be pitching’s triple crown, a rarity in the regular season. Four pitchers are behind him with 13 wins — Kansas City’s Seth Lugo, Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez, the New York Yankees’ Carlos Rodon and Houston’s Framber Valdez.
Skubal has thrown 155.1 innings this season, third-most in the AL. That’s also his career high. The Tigers want to protect that investment.
Doing the math is important here. How many starts would Skubal lose if he starting pitching on an extra day’s rest?
On normal rest he could make eight more starts. If Detroit added a sixth day of rest to his schedule he would likely end up with just six starts.
The Tigers could attempt to strike a balance. But, with no pennant race to chase, Detroit might be content to slow Skubal at the finish, which could come at the expense of a career-making season.
