Writer: Gage O'Leary
Twitter: @det_news
Twitter: @DeepShotSports
Oh boy, watch out! Here comes the Tigers as they have won 6 of their last 8 games!... It's like deja vu, remember last season, the Detroit Tigers started the year as the worst team in baseball and that continued for over a month?. Yes, it didn't last quite as long as it has this season, but now as the calendar turns to June and after the last week, you can't help but wonder if the Tigers are about to go on a run similar to June of 2021. The Tigers at one point were 9-24 in the '21 season, but after May 8th they were a top 3 team in Baseball for the majority of that season. After Wednesday nights win the Detroit Tigers are 9.0 games back of the 1st place Minnesota Twins in their division, yes, it seems like an ugly stat, but that's ground Detroit can make up, especially considering they'll hopefully see Austin Meadows returning to the Lineup soon, Riley Greene likely making his MLB debut sooner rather than later, Robbie Grossman who's timetable is a little questionable but will hopefully rejoin the club in the next two weeks and of course we're hopeful that the beat up pitching staff will be seeing some returns soon as well. For now Detroit is receiving heroic efforts from Willi Castro, Harold Castro, Will Vest, and more players who you wouldn't have expected to make such a big impact in 2022.... The headline for the Tigers however is young Left-handed pitcher, Tarik Skubal, who is just having a phenomenal year, and after having so much excitement for a Rodriguez, Mize, Skubal, Manning and Pineda rotation, unfortunately we haven't seen hardly any of the group as a whole because of injuries. Skubal is the last man standing from the opening day rotation and they needed him to step up, be good, and stay healthy... He's done that and more. Tarik Skubal is proving he can and probably will be the Detroit Tigers "ACE" moving forward...
Skubal proving to be Tigers' ACE
In a year that's so far been so frustrating Tarik Skubal has given Tigers fans something to look forward to every 5 games. He's been the heartbeat for Detroit's starting rotation as we've seen multiple really good pitchers be placed on the shelf early in the 2022 MLB season. Eduardo Rodriguez, one of the bigger off-season acquisition's for Detroit is on IL, Casey Mize, former 1st overall pick in the MLB Draft and someone many considered to be the future Ace of the organization on IL, Matt Manning, a young overpowering Right-handed pitcher on IL, Tyler Alexander, someone who's had multiple starts this season and last on IL, and finally late season acquisition Michael Pineda, placed on IL. The list goes on and on between Starters, Bullpen pitchers, infielders, utility players, great outfielders, and a great catcher in Jake Rodgers.... This season Skubal has been dominate no matter if he threw his 95-97 MPH fastball, 89-92 MPH Slider, or mid to late 80's change up. He's beating hitters with every pitch in his arsenal... Tarik Skubal's 2022 stats: 10 games, 4 wins-2 losses, 2.15 ERA, 58.2 innings pitched, 61 strikeouts, 0. 95 WHIP... Tarik Skubal previously struggled with the amount of Homeruns he allowed on a regular basis, that hasn't been the case this season as he's allowed just 4 Homeruns a huge improvement from years prior. On May, 20th while on the road in Cleveland facing the Guardians, Tigers fans held their breath as Skubal was forced to leave the game after taking a line drive off the shin, a clearly frustrated Skubal didn't want to leave the game, luckily he ended up being fine and all was good again. In Wednesday's victory vs the Twins, Skubal pitched 7 innings, allowed 0 runs on 2 hits, allowed 1 walk and struck out 6 batters... How long can Tarik Skubal keep up this dominance?
Could Skubal be an All-Star or even better yet, a CY Young winner?
Yep, the Tarik Skubal hype train is full steam ahead and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. He's well on his way to being selected to his first All-Star game, but let's pump the brakes a tad before we start locking him in as a CY Young winner, atleast this season... For those who don't know much about the CY Young award, it's the most prestigest award a pitcher can receive, one is handed out to the best pitcher from each league, the American League and National League... In my opinion, Skubal has shown he has the potential to be a CY Young caliber player, but I think it's still just a bit to early... The big picture for the Tigers is to get healthy and to hopefully be able to reel in a potential playoff spot. Thanks for reading, Go Tigers!
Enjoy the rest of you're week!
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