There was the high ERA, yes, and there were the pitches he'd like back. There was also the high rate of strikeouts. So as Tarik Skubal dissected his first season in the big leagues, one in which the fastball that got him here looked like the fastball that will keep him here, he came away encouraged. He came away thinking this:
"I’m not getting beat too bad on a pitch that I’m throwing 60 percent of the time. Taking that into next season, if I can develop a couple more pitches around that, that's what I want to be," Skubal said Thursday. "Then I’ll have a lot of confidence in myself out there."
For Skubal, the Tigers' 24-year-old southpaw sensation, this offseason has been about a lot of things. But really, it's been about one pitch, the pitch that sent him to his old stomping grounds last week where he shacked up with Matthew Boyd and made three trips to the Seattle-based Driveline Baseball Facility to harness the technology that's revolutionizing the art of pitching.
"My focus was just the changeup," Skubal said. "Wanted to really figure that pitch out."
A product of Seattle University, Skubal has long been a disciple of Driveline. He believes in their scientific approach to the game, in their high-speed cameras and their meticulous methods of pitch design, because he knows that it works. He visited the facility two offseasons ago to work on his curveball, he said, and "in a matter of three pitches I kind of figured it out."
But the changeup?
"The changeup was a little more difficult for me," he said.
Identifying the problem was easy. A few pitches into his first session on Monday, the data showed that Skubal's changeup had too much backspin. It was basically a slower fastball without the deception. This would explain why hitters had a .538 slugging percentage against it last season, with an expected slugging percentage that was even higher.
"It just kind of turned into a BP fastball at 83 (mph), instead of 93 or 94," he said. "I was really working on killing the vertical break and adding a little more horizontal break to it, just to get that dive and fade that I want."
And this is where it got complicated. Skubal spent the duration of Tuesday's session trying to find the right grip. This was no ordinary bullpen. Surrounded by cameras tracking every nanosecond of his delivery and every revolution of the baseball once it left his hand, Skubal would throw a pitch, then pause for a minute to consult the data. Then he'd tweak his grip and throw another. He did this 30 some-odd times until he liked what he saw.
"I went through about every grip you could think of for a changeup before I found it," he said. "It’s kind of a split-changeup now that gets the results that I want. When I left on Tuesday, I'm like, that's pretty frustrating how that happened."
It was all worth it when Skubal returned on Friday. He threw 15 or 20 more pitches with the same grip -- "to really understand and figure out what I’m doing," he said -- and the results were pure, like the first time a musician hits each note of a song.
"Once I figured it out, I was like, 'Yes, this is what I came up here to do,'" Skubal said. "Now it’s just about consistently doing that in all my bullpens going forward."
In just a few weeks, Skubal will be throwing bullpens in Lakeland. He's eager to team up with new Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter, an analytical mind himself. Fetter is the bridge between Driveline and Detroit, the coach who can build on the strides his players have made on their own. He speaks the new language of pitching as fluently as anyone in the business.
"I think he maximizes the potential of every arm that he interacts with," Skubal said. "Very personal, very guy-to-guy. It’s not a one-size-fits-all (approach). It’s what plays for each guy. Very excited to dive into it and to learn as much as I can about how my stuff plays."
It played well in his first season with the Tigers, all things considered. Remember, Skubal was supposed to start last season in Triple-A Toledo to sharpen himself for the majors. Then Triple-A became the Tigers' taxi squad. He was summoned to Detroit under less-than-deal circumstances and logged a 5.63 ERA -- and 10.4 K/9. Both numbers were fourth highest among rookies with at least 30 innings pitched.
Skubal's ready for what comes next. He's added weight this winter, especially in his lower half. He's prepared his body for what he hopes is a full season in Detroit. He has the fastball, and he has the slider. Now let's see what Skubal do with the changeup he's been looking for.
"Really confident with it going forward, and really excited about what it’s going to be a month or two months from now," he said.