Tigers Ace Tarik Skubal Leaves Start Against Marlins Early With Apparent Injury

The Cy Young Award frontrunner exited his start with a trainer in the fourth inning.

Tarik Skubal left his start against the Marlins Friday / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal left his start against the Marlins with a team athletic trainer Friday night.

He appeared to grab the left side of his upper body after a pitch in the fourth inning which caused manager A.J. Hinch and a member of the training staff to head out to the mound. After a brief discussion, Skubal exited the game. You can watch the unfortunate sequence below:

AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal left the game due to injury after reaching for the left side of his body after throwing a pitch pic.twitter.com/LTIZtiRC43

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 13, 2025

Tarik Skubal grabbed his left side after the last pitch he threw pic.twitter.com/HpCA9yCUm0

— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) September 13, 2025

Per The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen, the team said the Cy Young Award frontrunner left his 29th start of the season with tightness in his left side and is getting evaluated. Heading into the night, he is 13–4 with a 2.10 ERA and 222 strikeouts. He leads the AL in ERA, trailing only Paul Skenes (1.92) for the best mark in baseball. Only Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has more punchouts with 228.

Something was off with Skubal from the start Friday as he gave up two home runs in his first two innings and ended the evening allowing four earned runs to two strikeouts. He pitched 14 innings of scoreless baseball over his two previous starts while striking out 10 batters along the way.

Javier Báez exited early for Detroit Friday also after he fouled a ball off his head earlier in the game.

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