Tarik Skubal Can’t Wait to Do This with Tigers Legend in Spring Training
In this story:
Tarik Skubal will be back in spring training next week after his World Baseball Classic commitment is complete.
He’s part of a stellar rotation pitching for Team USA in pool play, including San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and New York Mets rookie Nolan MacLean.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
The rotation he’ll return in Lakeland, Fla., isn’t too shabby. The Tigers expect to have a rotation that includes Skenes, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty and Justin Verlander. For Tigers fans and Skubal, having the franchise legend back in the fold is a big deal, as he told Ben Verlander during his “Flippin’ Bats” podcast.
What Tarik Skubal Wants to Do Next
Skubal is with Team USA this week for the WBC, but he’ll be returning to spring training after the start and continue his ramp-up for the regular season. By then, Verlander should be pitching in spring training games. But there’s a geeky pitching thing that Skubal can’t want to do with the three-time American League Cy Young winner between starts.
Scout a game.
“As spring training gets along and as he gets going into games, I'm just gonna watch how he scouts,” he said. “When he got here, I was like, ‘Hey, just whenever you got it, let me know and I'll just sit there and I'm going to be a fly on the wall. Just do your routine and I just want to watch.’ He’s been an open book about all of that.”
Skubal — who will be paid an arbitration ruling record $32 million this season — is looking for every pointer he can get as he shoots for a third straight American League Cy Young award.
The left-hander has been brilliant the past two seasons. In 2024 he went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts as he won the American League pitching triple crown. That helped him win his first Cy Young and finish seventh in AL MVP voting.
Last year his won-loss record wasn’t quite as good, as he went 13-6. But he bettered his 2024 season other respects, including a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts. He won his second Cy Young and finished fifth in AL MVP voting.
Verlander is returning to the Motor City after several years away. Now 43 years old, he has a career record of 266-158 with a 3.32 ERA. He is the current MLB leader in bWAR for pitchers (82.2), wins, losses, innings pitched, walked allowed and strikeouts.
Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
Follow postinspostcard