Who Might Tigers Start After Tarik Skubal in Playoff Series?

Who will be the starting pitchers for the Detroit Tigers after Tarik Skubal in the playoffs?

Aug 25, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

As the Detroit Tigers get set for a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, their playoff rotation might be starting to take shape.

It has been a good run of late for the Tigers, who are once again in firm control of the American League Central. Even though the Cleveland Guardians made a little bit of a run, Detroit has been able to weather the storm. 

Due to the amount of success that the team has had during the regular season, expectations are high heading into the playoffs. This is a team that came just one win shy of making it to the ALCS last year, so getting over the hump this campaign is certainly the goal. 

When looking at the roster and the makeup of the Tigers this season, they have gone about their success a little bit differently. While Tarik Skubal is still the ace of the staff and the anchor for them in the rotation, they don’t have the same caliber of bullpen to lean on with the strategy that worked so well last year. 

Fortunately, the lineup has seen some significant improvements with players performing much better than last year. But overall, there is a bit of a looming concern about the state of the rotation heading into playoffs with some pitchers that the franchise likely expected to be starters in October not performing well.

Who Will Start After Skubal?

Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

At the trade deadline, Detroit traded for starters Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton to help provide some depth in the rotation. However, due to some of the struggles of Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty, it might end up being Morton and Paddack as the Game 2 and 3 starters in a potential playoff series. 

Since being traded, Morton has totaled a 2-2 record and 4.61 ERA in five starts. With three of the five starts being quality, and one of the bad outings for Morton being against the Athletics in their hitter-friendly ballpark on the road, the results so far have been quite good. 

Paddack has also totaled five starts with a 2-2 record, but his ERA is a bit higher at 5.13 thanks to allowing eight runs in a start against his former team. Even though the sample sizes are small, there have been some quality outings for the two right-handers and they might be earning their spot in the playoff rotation. 

In September, the state of the starting rotation is going to be one of the most important things to watch for the Tigers. This is a team that needs some pitchers to step up behind Skubal if they are going to achieve their goals.