AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal exits game with injury shaking Tigers’ World Series dreams

The Detroit Tigers are sweating on the fitness of reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal after his early exit from the series opener against the Miami Marlins on Friday.

Tarik Skubal, who is leading the race for a second consecutive Cy Young award, threw 45 pitches and conceded three earned runs before experiencing pain in his left side. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked out to the mound with a trainer to assess his ace.

Hinch pulled Skubal after just 3.1 innings, fearing a long-term injury for the AL Cy Young favorite. Detroit struggled in their ace's absence, losing 8-2 on the night.

It was a second consecutive defeat for the Tigers, who held the best record in the AL after their series win over the Yankees. Although the Toronto Blue Jays have reclaimed their spot as the best team in the AL, the Tigersare expected to get a bye and make a deep postseason run.

However, a long-term injury for Skubal could derail the Tigers' hopes of a World Series bid, derailing their stellar regular season form. The team is evaluating his injury and will send him for further scans on Saturday.

Tarik Skubal reflects on injury issue after early exit against Marlins

Following the loss against the Marlins, Tarik Skubal addressed his injury that led to an early exit.

"Certain things happen during the game. They come and go with the game," Skubal said. "This was one that didn't really go away, and that was what prompted me to call for AJ (Hinch) and a trainer."

The Tigers hold an 84-64 record and are are almost guaranteed a place in playoffs, barring an unprecedented collapse in the next two weeks. With postseason looming for the team, Skubal didn't want to risk aggravating his issue.

"This time of year, going forward, I didn't want to risk causing me to really miss some time," Skubal said.

While Skubal's status will concern Hinch, he will also be worried about shortstop Javier Baez, who left the game early after a foul ball struck his forehead in the second inning. Baez fell to the ground and was helped off the field by a trainer and his manager.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash