Tarik Skubal Joins Jack Morris in Detroit Tigers' Franchise History Books

Tarik Skubal has been dealing through the first two months of the 2024 regular season, dominating at a level Detroit Tigers fans haven't seen in 40 years.

Skubal went 6.0 innings deep against the Texas Rangers on Monday, only allowing one earned run. That paved the way for Detroit to pick up a series-opening 2-1 victory on the road, bringing the team back to .500.

Through 12 starts, Skubal is 7-1 with a 1.97 ERA, 0.877 WHIP, 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings a 6.62 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 2.9 WAR. Skubal's WHIP is the lowest among qualified American League pitchers, while his ERA ranks third, his WAR ranks fourth and his strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks fifth.

According to the club's Public Relations department, Skubal is the first Tigers pitcher to boast a sub-2.00 ERA over their first 12 starts of a season since Jack Morris in 1984. That happens to be the same year Morris won his first World Series of three World Series rings, going 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 0.720 WHIP that postseason.

Allowing one earned run over 6.0 innings last night, Tarik Skubal lowered his ERA to 1.97.

The last Tigers pitcher to have a sub-2.00 ERA over his first 12 starts of a season was Jack Morris in 1984. pic.twitter.com/QdFm0ALfXa
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) June 4, 2024

Joining a Hall of Famer in the franchise history books is quite the accomplishment, especially considering the other elite pitchers who have come through Detroit over the past few decades. Neither Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Price nor Rick Porcello were able to start a season quite as hot as Skubal's.

The 27-year-old southpaw is currently a leading contender to win the AL Cy Young, which would be quite the leap for a pitcher who has never made an All-Star Game or earned a vote for any major award in the big leagues. Still, Skubal has improved upon both his winning percentage and ERA every year since he made his MLB debut in 2020, and his WHIP has dropped for the fourth season in a row.

Skubal showed promise when he went 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA and 1.156 WHIP across 21 starts in 2022, and he took a major step forward by going 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA and 0.896 WHIP across 15 starts in 2023.

Now, Skubal is firing on all cylinders and making team history in the process.

Skubal's next start is projected to come this weekend, when the Tigers host the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

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