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Having won his first AL Cy Young award after dominating in 2024, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is enjoying yet another superb campaign in 2025. Boasting a 6-2 record, along with a 2.16 ERA and 105 total strikeouts, Skubal is an overwhelming favorite to secure the prestigious prize for a second year in a row, come November.
Looking at Skubal's ten starts, there are plenty of instances where his dominance on the mound helped the Tigers to victory. However, the most memorable of them all is Skubal's nine-inning gem against the Cleveland Guardians on May 24, where he pitched all nine innings, allowing only two hits, zero earned runs and striking out 13.
On Wednesday's episode of the "Pardon My Take" podcast, Skubal credited the fans for showing up to support, further declaring his love for the city and even hinting at his desire to stay at Comerica Park for the rest of his career.
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"I love Detroit, yeah. [For the rest of my life,] sure." Tarik Skubal said
Skubal also talked about how he pushed his limits while being spurred on by the fans, eventually recording one of the finest outings of his career so far.
"That's as hard as I can throw a baseball. I know I said that last year, but I actually think that's as hard as I can throw a baseball," Skubal said. "Maybe if I'm in the ninth inning in a playoff game, that's something different, I bet that would actually be harder than that. There's 36,000 [in the crowd], it's an 11:35 game.
"The fact that the fans showed up for an 11:35 game, I got a ton of respect for. We just lost three [games] to Cleveland in a row, and we're kinda trying to salvage a series. There's a lot of emotions that went into that game that made it special."
Tigers skipper A.J. Hinch expresses his amazement at Tarik Skubal's outing against the Guardians
Speaking to MLB Network Radio shortly after Skubal inspired the Tigers to victory against the Cleveland Guardians, manager A.J. Hinch talked about how he was simply left 'in awe' of the ace's fantastic performance.
"I don't think I've ever seen a more efficient, more dominant outing than what I saw from Tarik Skubal," Hinch said. "Factor in the way that series had gone, our team really needed a little bit of a boost. 74 strikes in 94 pitches, I mean, man.
"13 punch [outs], and capping it with 102.6, there's no way you're going to see that again, and that's what makes it great. My hat's off to him, it's hard to describe his day without taking a pause and just being in awe."
As the Tigers, who look like one of the most consistent teams in all of the majors at the moment, begin to dream of a deep run into the postseason, fans will be hoping for plenty more of the same from Tarik Skubal as the season goes on.
