Once he got his feet under him last season, Tarik Skubal's arm was electric. He returned in July about a year after flexor tendon surgery and couldn't be touched by September when he won AL Pitcher of the Month.
His September numbers, in case you forgot: 0.90 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and 43 strikeouts to four walks in 30 innings. A 4-0 record in five starts. That'll work.
"A lot of it you credit to the coaching staff and the game plans and scouting reports and the teammates and catchers we got," Skubal said this week on 97.1 The Ticket's Tiger Talk. "I was comfortable, I was confident in myself. I felt like I was executing pitches at a pretty high clip and the results spoke to that."
The loud-and-clear statement is that Skubal is ready to be the Tigers ace. He might not say this himself, but with last year's No. 1 Eduardo Rodriguez off to Arizona on a four-year, $80 million deal, this is now Skubal's rotation. He sets the tone.
And not just in Detroit. If Skubal stays healthy in 2024, he has a chance to announce himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball. That's how the 27-year-old carried himself on the mound last season, for the first time in his young career.
"Part of it comes from the confidence in just knowing you belong in pitching in the big leagues. That's something I didn't really have probably my first two years, was just confidence in myself knowing that I belong, so that obviously helps," Skubal said.
From the date that he returned last season, Skubal led all big-league pitchers in fWAR (3.3) -- and it wasn't particularly close. He also ranked first in FIP (2.00) -- and it wasn't particularly close. He said he was able to consistently channel the mentality of being "locked in pitch by pitch for an entire game."
"When I can do that and not let little things kind of get at me, not let a strike zone get at me, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter, not let anything really affect that (mentality) and just live pitch by pitch, that's when I'm at my best, and I thought I did a good job of doing that last year," Skubal said.
Skubal is also quick to credit Scott Harris, the Tigers president of baseball ops who helped Skubal get more out of his elite arm in his first season running the organization.
"I think he really understands pitching and gets it," Skubal said. "We had a ton of conversations just in the weight room about my stuff, my arsenal, where it plays and stuff. The confidence that the organization put in me was huge for me."
And no one had a bigger impact on Skubal last year than Tigers assistant pitching coach Robin Lund, the former Kinesiology professor with a PhD in exercise science who joined the organization shortly after Harris' arrival. Skubal calls him 'Doc Ock.'
"I think he's the only coach in the big leagues with (a PhD)," said Skubal, who appreciates Lund's knack for simplifying complex concepts.
"He's really good at explaining things that don't really make sense to me. I'll say, 'Hey, I don't really get this,' and he'll make me do a drill where my body is going to naturally enforce it into my throwing pattern," Skubal said. "He's really good at communicating. And he loves baseball and you can tell. He's always willing to work, always willing to look at video. He was a huge add for us."
And the return of Skubal was a huge add for the Tigers, whose best month of baseball last season coincided with Skubal's. Detroit went 17-10 in September as Skubal tore through opposing lineups with sizzling fastballs, devilish breaking balls and a diabolical new changeup that turned into his best pitch. Now he can neutralize hitters from both sides of the plate.
Skubal's star has long been rising in Detroit. This could be the year it shines across the bigs.
Other highlights from Skubal's interview on 97.1 The Ticket:
On the Tigers' core coming up together: "We're a young team, but I think it's good to struggle. It makes you who you are. It makes you tougher. There's a ton of growth when your back's against the wall. Every time you fail, you try to learn from it and not let that happen again, so I think there's a ton of value in failing and struggling. There's no better place to struggle than in the big leagues. That's where you really learn who you are. So I'm really confident in the guys we got. We're all maturing, I think our team chemistry is awesome, I'm excited for report date and to get it going again."
On the return of Casey Mize: "He's put in a ton of hard work. There's ups and downs of rehab and he's handled everything so well. I'm very excited to have him back and healthy. His arm was really live when he was doing those live BP's and throwing the bullpens (last summer), the ball was coming out great. I love the way he goes about his business.
"Even since 2019 when we played High-A together and I watched him, I'm like, why is this guy so good? And I watched his work ethic and how we went about it and it taught me that I really needed to have a routine in pro ball and throwing every fifth day. I value our friendship. I'm very excited for him. He's a really, really good baseball player, better dude, I'm excited to have him back."
