Tarik Skubal is an All-Star. Asked Sunday which of his peers he's most eager to meet later this month in Texas, Skubal wasn't sure. He said he's "excited to mingle, ask questions, talk shop, talk pitching, talk approach, see where guys are at, but to say one, I need to look at everybody" on the rosters.
By Monday, Skubal had made up his mind.
"Hopefully I cross paths with Chris Sale," he said. "I didn't get to do it in Atlanta when we were there (earlier this season)."
Sale, 35, is going to the eighth All-Star Game of his career. He went to his first when Skubal was 15. He's in the midst of a throwback season with the Braves after the end of his tenure with the Red Sox was marred by injuries. Sale leads the National League in wins and WHIP and ranks third in strikeouts, ERA (2.71) and batting average against (.199).
"Him being a left-handed pitcher and doing what he’s done for so long, kind of an idol for me growing up," said Skubal. "So hopefully there’s some sort of BP or something where I can just go meet him and tell him those things, and see if he’s got any information or knowledge for me."
Skubal, 27, is headed to his first All-Star Game. He leads the American League in WHIP, ranks second in wins and third in strikeouts, ERA (2.37) and batting average against (.190). Asked if his younger self would believe that he's an MLB All-Star, Skubal said he "was too naive to know" better.
"I probably didn’t even have the dream of playing in the big leagues," he said. "You just kind of saw it on TV and you’re like, I can do that, but you don’t really understand it. So that kid probably would have been like, 'Oh yeah, you are (an All-Star).'"
As for getting voted in by his fellow players along with another first-timer in Riley Greene, Skubal said it proves that "there’s a ton of respect from around the league for both me and him. You want to be respected by your peers and the guys that are playing in this league, so what an honor. I’m excited to get down there, and to share the memory with him will be pretty special."
Greene said the distinction "means more coming from the players. It just shows that they see it, too." The 22-year-old outfielder is enjoying a breakout season with 17 homers and an .856 OPS. On Sunday, Skubal said he's "glad that (Greene's) on my team so I don’t have to pitch to him." Asked how he'd go about getting a hit off Skubal, Greene grinned and said, "I’d sit slider, and hope that he throws it in the zone."
And how would Skubal go about facing Greene? He smiled back and said, "I'd have look at the hot zones, the red zones and all that, the scouting report on him."
"I don’t know the report on how to get him out, but probably sinkers in-off, sliders away, changeups below the zone," he said. "That’s probably the best bet to get him out, and then hopefully you throw it where you want to."
Greene is the Tigers first position player voted into the All-Star Game since Miguel Cabrera in 2016. Skubal called himself "a big 3-1 fan."
"The way he goes about it, his work, his consistency, him being the teammate and leader (he is), I don’t even know how old he is, 22, 23, I got a ton of respect for that. The way he goes about his business, I’m a big Riley Greene fan," Skubal said.
For Greene, the All-Star nod is proof positive of what some of his cousins told him at the beginning of the season: "They were like, 'You’re going to be an All-Star this year!' And I was like, cool, whatever, didn’t think anything of it." And while he never set out to achieve it, Greene is more than happy to prove them right.
"Definitely proud," he said. "It’s awesome to be able to go there and represent the Tigers."