Tigers Ace Skubal Might Be the Reason a Former Cy Young Winner Makes History

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has not shied away from helping his peers take their game to the next level.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Alex Lange, left, talks to pitcher Tarik Skubal during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has cemented his status as arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball.

It was never a question about talent with him, as injuries were the only thing holding him back at points earlier in his career.

Once he was able to stay on the mound consistently, his talent really shined through.

Skubal put it all together in 2024, earning his first All-Star Game nod with everything culminating in him winning the American League Cy Young Award after also winning the AL's triple crown.

It was well earned since he led the AL and MLB in several statistics.

His 6.4 WAR, 18 wins and 228 strikeouts led all of baseball. A .818 winning percentage, 2.39 ERA, 170 ERA+ and 2.49 FIP were all the best marks in the AL.

He made 31 starts last year, throwing 192 innings, after making only 36 starts with 198 innings in the two seasons combined prior to that combined.

Opponents were unable to consistently make good contact against him, registering a measly .201/.247/.311 slash line. He is capable of pinpointing his pitches with a minuscule 4.6% walk rate while keeping hitters off balance with overwhelming stuff.

The pitch that separates Skubal from his peers is a dominant changeup, which is in the running as one of the best pitches in baseball.

And now, he is teaching some of his peers how to throw the same devastating pitch.

This offseason, he worked closely with San Francisco Giants left-handed veteran starting pitcher Robbie Ray. The Tigers star taught him the changeup he throws, and the results have been magnificent to this point.

Statistics don’t mean much in Cactus League play exhibitions, but what Ray has been able to do since incorporating Skubal's changeup into his repertoire has been astounding.

He has struck out 19 of the 52 batters he has faced this spring and has not issued a single walk. As David Adler of MLB.com shared, that is the most strikeouts for any pitcher without surrendering a free pass this exhibition period.

Ray has allowed only three runs, two earned, across 14.1 innings for a stellar 1.26 ERA.

If this production can be carried over into the regular season, he is going to be an excellent complement to Logan Webb as the Giants’ No. 2 starter atop their rotation.

Those numbers would put Ray right back in the Cy Young conversation, a place he hasn’t been in four years.

In 2021, he won the AL Cy Young Award while pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays.

He hasn’t quite recaptured that form, having to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2023, but with the help of Detroit's ace, Ray looks to have gotten back on track and could become only the eighth pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues.