Detroit Tigers Starting Pitcher Has Cemented Spot Among Aces in Baseball
The Detroit Tigers are continuing their unlikely march toward a spot in the 2024 MLB postseason with some stellar performances on the field.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, they are in the driver’s seat as the No. 5 seed in the American League. While the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins have faltered, the Tigers have caught fire.
An extended run of this level of play is not easy to sustain, but they have made it look that way. There have been a lot of reasons that Detroit is in the position that they are now, with elite pitching being at the top.
Manager A.J. Hinch deserves a lot of credit for navigating a post-MLB trade deadline team that was clear sellers. Veterans Jack Flaherty and Andrew Chafin were among the players traded, but the pitching staff has not missed a beat.
Injuries could have also derailed things for the Tigers, but Hinch pressed all the right buttons when it came to eating up innings. He used openers followed by bulk pitchers when he had only two healthy starters to rely on.
Of course, things are a little easier when one of those starters is Tarik Skubal.
The lefty has emerged as a legitimate star in 2024, earning his first trip to the All-Star game. As Bradford Dootlittle of ESPN pointed shared, he has been the team’s biggest success this year.
“With the Tigers making a serious, late and borderline shocking run at a playoff spot, it seems even more incredible that Tarik Skubal's name was frequently whispered in pre-deadline rumors. Skubal seems a sure bet to win Cy Young honors while posting the best season by a Tigers hurler since Verlander was around,” Doolittle wrote.
On the season, the ace has gone 17-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 221 strikeouts. He heads the AL in each category, along with ERA+ (166) and FIP (2.53).
The only person standing in the way of Skubal making some incredible history is Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, who is also competing for the pitching triple crown himself.
Both feel like shoe-ins for the Cy Young Award in their respective leagues looking to accomplish something that hasn’t been since since Johan Santana with the Twins in 2006.
Even if Skubal cannot top Sale in some of the statistics, it doesn’t minimize just how great he has been. His presence atop the Detroit rotation after being involved in trade rumors ahead of the deadline has been spectacular.
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.