Tigers avoid disaster as Tarik Skubal’s injury outlook brings relief, per MLB insider

The Detroit Tigers faced a major injury scare during Friday's game against the Miami Marlins after American League Cy Young hopeful Tarik Skubal exited the mound early.

The reigning AL Cy Young winner held his left side during the fourth inning and called for manager A.J. Hinch. He was evaluated by Hinch and the trainer before being taken off the mound.

While Tigers fans held their breath on a potential injury to the All-Star ace, MLB insider Jeff Passan reported that Skubal didn't sustain any major issue with the scans coming out negative.

According to Passan, Skubal is expected to recover in time for his next scheduled start. Hinch also confirmed that his ace has avoided any major injury.

"The scan came back clean, so obviously that's great for us and great for him,” Hinch said. “Now we'll work towards his work week.”

Skubal is reportedly experiencing rib cage tightness, and the team is not taking any risks with his fitness as the postseason approaches.

“All of that was consistent with what he was saying (Friday),” Hinch said. “So it matched the physical evaluation to go along with the medical evaluation today.”

Tarik Skubal to be evaluated before scheduled start against Guardians

Tarik Skubal's start on Sunday was pushed back to manage his workload and the Tigers ace is expected to start against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park on Thursday.

However, manager A.J. Hinch is not confirming anything for Skubal before he starts throwing again.

“We're just gonna go day by day and make the best decisions we can,” Hinch said. “I don't have any more info until he does more.”

Hinch said the team will evaluate Skubal's issue when he resumes throwing on Monday. The Tigers manager expressed happiness that his pitcher had avoided a major injury.

“Obviously, I’m happy,” Hinch said. “We got a lot of work to do to, you know, to get him through this soreness. I don't like him having any soreness whatsoever, any of our guys, but clearly we were all waiting for the scan and the evaluation, and to have positive news is a good step forward.”

Skubal was erratic in his start on Friday, conceding four runs on two homers before his exit. The Tigers lost the series opener 8-2 and followed it with a 6-4 loss on Saturday.

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.

Know More

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash