Tarik Skubal’s Cy Young Case Already Facing Pushback From MLB Fans
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The Detroit Tigers' best player in the last three seasons has easily been ace Tarik Skubal. Skubal is the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner after dominating in two straight seasons, both of which helped get Detroit to the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.
And the start of the 2026 season has been as strong as it could be for Skubal, as he holds an ERA below 3.00 and almost always allows soft contact. However, MLB fans aren't sold that the Tigers' ace is performing at a top-tier level, and were very vocal during the recent Cy Young Award poll announcement.
Skubal Hasn't Earned the Fans Nod Just Yet
MLB.com released its end-of-April edition of the American League Cy Young Award polls, created by a panel of experts, which has Skubal at the top of the list. Following Skubal are José Soriano of the Los Angeles Angels, Cam Schlittler and Max Fried of the New York Yankees, and Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Fans reacted to this post by flooding the comment section with their opinions on the poll. Tigers fans were quick to defend their ace, while other fans began comparing Skubal to Schlittler of the Yankees.
Tarik hasn’t even been a top 3 pitcher in the AL. Cam has been the best pic.twitter.com/0F1RizoYTw
— Schlittler’s Slider (@SchlittsSlider) April 29, 2026
I love Skubal but he is in no way having a better season than Soriano or Schlittler
— Sola Baseball (@SolaBaseball) April 29, 2026
So far Schlittler, Soriano, Fried, Messick and Wacha have been better than Skubal.
— On The Mound (@DanStrikeZone) April 29, 2026
Currently in the American League, Skubal ranks 26th in ERA (2.72), is tied for 17th in strikeouts (38), 20th in WHIP (0.99), and is tied for 14th in win/loss record with a 3-2.
In fans' minds, they believe the best pitcher so far in the American League has been either Schlittler or Soriano, and both have reasons to be held to that standard. However, the MLB.com experts could be using recency as their reasoning, potentially suggesting Skubal will stay the course while the others will fall off.
As a tigers fan Schlittler has to be number 1 tbh
— waterlemoan (@waterlemoan) April 29, 2026
Scott Harris on Tarik Skubal
President of Baseball Operations for the Tigers, Scott Harris, believes that Skubal has done exactly what Skubal is known for thus far in 2026. Below is his quote from a recent interview with MLB Network when asked about Skubal and winning.
"This organization is all about winning, and Tarik is a big part of our ability to win here. Having him go every five days really sets the tone for our team. And if we want to climb the whole mountain, if we want to win the World Series, I think it’s really important that he’s performing at a really high level, and he is. He’s also setting a really powerful example for all the other pitchers on our staff."
There is a lot of baseball left to play in the season, so time will tell how Skubal fares.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.