Tigers Stars Tarik Skubal, Dillon Dingler Made One Subtle Change To Dominate Twins
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Everyone was curious what Detroit Tigers star Tarik Skubal would have in store as an encore after winning the American League Cy Young Award last season.
He completed the pitching triple crown, leading the AL in victories, ERA and strikeouts. Topping that performance was going to be a tall task, but Skubal has found a way to take his performance to another level.
Several of his metrics are even better in 2025 than they were in 2024, getting even more out of his already stellar arsenal.
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Through his first 17 starts of the campaign, Skubal is putting together a strong case to be the AL Cy Young Award winner in back-to-back years.
His 10 victories, .833 winning percentage, 1.98 FIP, 0.835 WHIP and 9.86 SS/BB ratio all lead the MLB. A 3.9 bWAR and 11.4 K/9 ratio are both tops in the AL.
Through 109 innings of work, he has struck out 138 batters and registered an excellent 2.15 ERA.
However, if there was one chink in his armor, it was the regularity in which he throws strikes with.
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Pounding the zone is something every pitcher wants to do. No one avoids issuing walks as well as Skubal does, but sometimes it did come back to bite him.
As shared by MLB insider Buster Olney of ESPN, Skubal went into Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins with a 71.5% first-pitch strike rate, which was the second best mark in the Big Leagues.
Opponents know he is going to be in the zone and would take advantage.
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Six of the eight home runs he has allowed have come on the first pitch of an at-bat, opposing batters knowing it is the best chance they will have to get a hit off of him.
After surrendering two home runs to the Athletics in his previous outing, Skubal and catcher Dillon Dingler devised a subtle change in his pitch sequence in the game plan against the Twins.
More first-pitch changeups were called and the results were magnificent.
Tarik Skubal went into Sunday's game with a 71.5% rate of throwing first-pitch strikes, 2nd-best in the majors, and given that tendency, a lot of the damage against him -- six of the eight home runs -- had come on first pitches in at-bats. He and catcher Dillon Dingler adapted…
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 1, 2025
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Skubal threw seven shutout innings in front of a national audience on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, allowing only one hit and issuing one walk while striking out 13, en route to a 3-0 Tigers victory.
That kind of willingness to adjust, combined with his natural talent, is why the Detroit ace is arguably the best pitcher in the game right now.
Always looking to improve, he is putting himself in a position to join some rare company as a potential two-time AL Cy Young Award winner.
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Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.