IN THE SIXTH inning of Game 2 of the American League Division Series, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal threw the biggest pitch of his career. It was a 97 mph fastball down in the zone, a pitch that induced Cleveland Guardians hitter David Fry to bounce into an inning-ending double play and preserve a scoreless tie.
Shortly after came the signature moment of his postseason dominance: As he walked off the mound, the game broadcast showed Skubal yelling a few choice words at the Progressive Field crowd booing him.
“I probably shouldn’t say some bad words with some cameras on me with kids watching,” Skubal said after the start. “But it was just emotion, raw emotion.”
The show of emotion made the rounds on social media, with Skubal’s own mother, Laura, scolding her son in a response to one of the most popular posts — an irony noted by Skubal on Friday.
“It’s interesting my mom went to Twitter to say that,” he said. “You should hear my mom. I’ve seen her get ejected from plenty of high school basketball games.
“I guess it might run in the family there.”
That kind of competitive fire is why there is no pitcher on the planet to whom the Tigers would rather hand their season to in Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 5 in Cleveland. The best pitcher in the AL this year is now tasked with extending Detroit’s improbable postseason run.
“No moment is too big,” Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “There is so much conviction behind every pitch. So much fun to play behind. He’s special and he’s only just getting started.”
HE TIGERS MIGHT not have had the luxury of turning to the American League Cy Young favorite in an elimination game if not for one unexpected draft-day phone call in 2018.
After Detroit took righty Casey Mize with the No.1 overall pick, Tigers executive David Chadd got a call from an agent friend during the middle of the second round.
“Your best player isn’t even on your board,” the voice said.
The call was from Scott Boras, who had an early idea of what Skubal could become; former client Bill Caudill had recommended to check him out.
“My god — this guy has arm strength like you wouldn’t believe,” Boras told colleagues after seeing Skubal for the first time.
Skubal was not a well-known name in the scouting world; he had undergone Tommy John surgery the previous year and was playing college baseball at Seattle University. His junior year numbers were more OK than outstanding, especially given the mid-major competition he was facing: He had a 4.16 ERA, giving up 66 hits in 80 innings to go along with 106 strikeouts.
“He was coming off an injury so I don’t think the industry had a lot of looks at Tarik,” said Chadd, who works for the Philadelphia Phillies now. “We had minimal looks at Tarik.”
Chadd and then-Tigers scouting director Scott Pleis had doubts but were convinced enough to make Skubal a ninth-round draft pick. They paid him a $350,000 signing bonus — more than double slot value — to keep him from returning to college for his senior year.
Those doubts were erased as soon as Detroit’s brass got a look at him. They quickly realized they had something special.
“I think we knew immediately what we had when he first stepped on the mound,” Chadd said. “We were taken aback by the ability at that point.”
Skubal pitched well enough during his professional debut that summer to be promoted from rookie ball, first to Low-A Connecticut and then to Single-A West Michigan. From then on, he was seen in the organization in the same tier as first-round picks Mize and Matt Manning. Two years later, he joined the two more heralded pitchers on Kiley
“I want to ask him, ‘How does it feel to walk out on the mound knowing you’re the best pitcher in the world?'” reliever Beau Brieske said recently. “I’d like to know what that feels like, to be quite honest.”
And on Saturday, with a chance to lead Detroit to an American League Championship Series showdown with the New York Yankees, Skubal will walk to the Progressive Field mound hoping to amaze them again.
“He’s got it all,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “He’s a unit on the mound. He’s got crazy deception. He throws 100. He has two different fastballs. He has wipeout off-speed. He’s the ultimate competitor.
“He’s every team’s dream to have as an ace. That guy is as good as it gets in our league.”
