Tigers' Tarik Skubal: All set for ALDS Game 2 start
Rotowire
Skubal (hamstring) will start Monday in Game 2 of the ALDS versus the Guardians, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
Skubal was lifted from his wild-card series start against the Astros after six scoreless innings and 88 pitches due to some hamstring cramping, but he was never in any danger of missing his first start of the ALDS. Tyler Holton will be the opener for the Tigers in Game 1 before Skubal takes the ball in Game 2 on five days rest.
Manager A.J. Hinch said after Tuesday's wild-card game against Houston that Skubal is dealing with cramping, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.
Skubal was able to finish the sixth inning after drawing a visit from the Tigers' training staff, which is a good sign that his removal was precautionary, and he may still be available for the ALDS if Detroit advances. The 27-year-old southpaw earned the win Tuesday after throwing six shutout innings and striking out six batters in the process.
Skubal will start Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Astros on Tuesday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Skubal will square off against fellow southpaw Framber Valdez. The left-hander is the likely American League Cy Young winner after going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 228:35 K:BB across 192 frames.
Manager A.J. Hinch said Thursday that Skubal is "unlikely" to pitch in Sunday's regular-season finale versus the White Sox if the Tigers have already clinched a wild-card spot but still have seeding at stake, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.
The Tigers would still have the American League Cy Young frontrunner take the hill Sunday if the team has not yet locked up a playoff berth by then. However, with the Tigers' magic number down to three, any combination of Detroit wins or Minnesota losses over the next three days would punch the Tigers' ticket to the postseason prior to Sunday. Hinch seemingly prefers not to have Skubal take the hill if the four through six seeds in the American League postseason remain unsettled heading into Sunday, instead preferring to save his ace for Game 1 of the wild-card round, which begins Tuesday.
Skubal (18-4) earned the win Tuesday over Tampa Bay, allowing two hits and one walk over seven scoreless innings. He struck out seven.
Skubal's now earned wins in six of his last nine outings -- he's only allowed more than two earned runs once in that span while posting a 1.94 ERA across 55.2 innings. Skubal, the current Cy Young frontrunner in the American League, will carry a 2.39 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 228:35 K:BB into his final regular-season start, likely to come this weekend at home against the White Sox.
Skubal (17-4) allowed one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven over five innings to earn the win over the Royals on Wednesday.
Skubal was pushed back a day after dealing with an injury to his non-throwing hand. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last eight starts, though this was tied for his shortest outing in that span. Over that sample, he's allowed 12 runs while posting a 59:8 K:BB across 48.2 innings. Skubal continues to maintain Cy Young credentials this season with a 2.48 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 221:34 K:BB across 185 innings over 30 starts. The Tigers are also just a half game out of the last wild-card spot following Wednesday's action, so Skubal is likely to remain active as long as a playoff spot is up for grabs. He's projected to make his next start at home versus the Rays.
