In what's becoming a routine, Tarik Skubal and Aaron Judge exchanged a few words of respect during the Tigers' 3-2 win over the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball. After Skubal struck him out in the first, Judge singled to lead off the fourth and met eyes with Skubal on his eventual trot back to the dugout.
"It's not fun facing a guy like that, but it's fun competing against the best," Judge said. "We always have a little back and forth, we'll kind of chirp. He strikes me out, we'll give each other a look. If I get a base hit, we'll give each other a look, so just shared a couple words going across the diamond right there."
"I enjoy that matchup every time," said Skubal.
Skubal would get the last laugh, inducing Judge to ground into a double play with runners on first and second and no one out in the sixth as a giddy crowd of Little Leaguers in Williamsport chanted Judge's name. Later, Skubal called Judge "the best player in the game." Judge called Skubal "the best pitcher in the game, what he's been doing all year long."
"I feel like the last couple seasons, when he came back last year at the end of the year, he really hit a different gear, hit a different level," said Judge.
The numbers, for both of them, are indisputable. Judge, who went deep in Detroit on Friday night but had an otherwise quiet weekend, leads the majors in homers, RBI, OPS and ranks second in average. Skubal leads the majors in ERA and leads the American League in strikeouts and wins and ranks second in WHIP.
But the most meaningful number to Skubal might be innings pitched. He's at 155 1/3, a new career high. That ranks fourth in the majors and marks a significant step forward for the left-hander after he threw just 80 1/3 last year following flexor tendon surgery and 117 2/3 the year before that when said arm injury ended his season early. For Skubal, durability is just as important as dominance.
"I don't necessarily have a number (I'm aiming for)," he said after going six strong against the Yankees, "but a lot of the horses around the league throw around 200 and that's something as a starting pitcher that you're going to take a lot of pride in. So if I can get to that number, that'd be great."
It will be up to A.J. Hinch as much as Skubal. The Tigers have 37 games to go, which sets up Skubal to make seven more starts. Between six and seven innings per start -- his season average -- would take him to 200 innings. But Hinch said Sunday night that Skubal might not make another start on regular rest this season, with the Tigers "paying close attention" to his arm. Every ensuing inning for the 27-year-old represents uncharted territory.
"I think in some ways it's unspoken because it's not something that we really want in the back of his head," said Hinch. "We're controlling the things that we can control and he continues to go out and dominate, continues to put in good effort between starts. We're giving him extra rest. This could very well be his last start on regular rest.
"But he's done the work, and you gotta reward players when they've done the work with giving them a chance to compete. If anything ever changes in the next month, you guys will be the second to know — we'll tell Skubal first. But it's important that the behind-the-scenes work is legit. He's earned the right to keep pitching."
Hinch said the Tigers are "very aware" of the innings on Skubal's arm, but just as cognizant of the way he takes care of himself off the mound: "He's a guy who works tremendously hard, he's put himself in a really good position, he has an incredible routine and he has stuck to it."
Only five MLB pitchers threw 200 innings last season -- compared to 15 five years ago, 33 ten years ago and more than 50 the last time the Tigers won the World Series. It's an increasingly rare feat in an age where the "horses" are being reined in. Some come up lame. Others are pulled in deference to pitch counts or in favor of the fresh reliever. That is, in fear of the third time through the order. We'll see if Skubal reaches that shiny number.
The fact that he's approaching it already feels like a win.
