'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Detroit Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal has had a strong first month in the 2025 MLB season, and many would say he is one of the front runners for the award this year.
However, MLB analyst Jayhay, on the "Baseball is Dead" podcast, feels differently. According to him, Skubal is trailing Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown in the AL Cy Young prediction after the month of MLB action.
Talking on Thursday's edition of the podcast, Jayhay said (11:05 onwards):
"To me. I'm looking at the leaderboard, and like, statistically, the AL Cy Young right now is probably Hunter Brown. You know, 1.22 ERA kind of speaks for itself, and that's ultimately where I would check my mark through one month of the season, and it's not like he doesn't have supporting statistics."
Trending
Like the analyst mentioned, Brown has a 1.22 ERA with a 4-1 record after six starts for the Astros. While Jayhay predicted Brown to be leading the race for the award, he gave his props to Tarik Skubal, who is 3-2 after six starts.
"I do want to call out Skubal because he's at his tubes," he added. "He's in a lot of ways, having just as good, if not better, of a season than he did last year. Like, there's no step back. There are marginal steps forward in a lot of ways."
While Hunter Brown has an impressive ERA, he is behind the New York Yankees' Max Fried for the best ERA in the American League. Fried, who signed for the Yankees in the offseason, is spotless with a 5-0 record and a 1.19 ERA after six starts. Fried's ERA is only topped by Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.06) in the MLB this season.
Tarik Skubal makes history with scoreless outing against Orioles
Tarik Skubal has his best start of the season in his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. He struck out 11 hitters in six scoreless innings. One of the interesting aspects of his outing was that the reigning AL Cy Young winner didn't walk any batter in the game.
“I don’t like walking guys,” Skubal said. “I think that helps me with guys in the box, too. They know I’m not going to walk them, so they want to swing early and often.”
Tarik Skubal became only the third Detroit pitcher with 11+ strikeouts in a scoreless game with no walks.
