Detroit Tigers Star Tarik Skubal Anchoring All-Breakout Team Pitching Staff
The Detroit Tigers have experienced an incredible turnaround during the 2024 season. They are unexpectedly right in the mix for a wild card spot in the American League thanks to an extended run of stellar play.
What has led to such a drastic turnaround even after selling so many veterans ahead of the MLB trade deadline?
Elite pitching.
Anchoring that part of the team has been ace Tarik Skubal. He and Keider Montero have been a two-man wrecking crew since the trade deadline as injuries forced manager A.J. Hinch to get creative with eating up innings.
Openers were used around Skubal and Montero with bulk pitchers behind them. The results were positive enough that the Tigers were able to stay afloat as they waited for players to get healthy.
Such a strategy only works when you have a pitcher as dominant as Skubal leading the way. He has shown his incredible skill in the past but cemented himself as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball this year.
That is why he has landed the top starting pitching spot in Joel Reuter’s All-Breakout 2024 team over at Bleacher Report.
“His 21 quality starts trail only Zack Wheeler (24) and Logan Gilbert (22) among all pitchers, and despite a summer filled with trade rumblings, he stuck around in Detroit and has helped lead the club's charge into the wild-card picture,” Reuter wrote.
This hint of dominance was shown when he made 15 starts last season after returning from flexor tendon surgery. It carried right through the offseason into this campaign.
In 29 starts, Skubal has gone 17-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 180 innings. He has walked only 33 batters and struck out 221, as he made his first All-Star team this summer.
Not only does he look to be a runaway favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, but he also has a chance to win the triple crown by leading baseball in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
The last time it was done was in 2006 when Minnesota Twins star Johan Santana had 19 wins, a 2.77 ERA and 245 strikeouts.
Skubal currently leads the AL in all three categories and all of baseball in wins. Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, who has 17 wins and a 2.35 ERA, is the only person that will keep him from accomplishing that rare feat.
KENNETH TEAPE
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.