DETROIT – Nobody really knew Justin Verlander was making his last start at Comerica Park as a Tiger – at least for now – when he took the mound on Aug. 20, 2017. The former AL MVP and Cy Young winner had remained a Tiger at the July Trade Deadline, and had been thriving since then. Players could still be traded in August back then if they cleared waivers, which Verlander did. Still, baseball hadn’t seen a blockbuster August trade in a while.
Verlander pitched a gem that Sunday afternoon, eight innings of two-hit, one-run ball against the Dodgers with nine strikeouts. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before ex-teammate Curtis Granderson got him for a home run. He made two more starts for the Tigers, both on the road, before being traded just before midnight on Aug. 31. He’s a Tiger again, but still hasn’t pitched for the Tigers in Detroit since, having been sidelined by injuries since making one start on the road in March.
As Tarik Skubal prepares to take the mound for the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. ET, wrapping up their series and homestand against the Orioles, it’s hard not to think back to that. The Tigers aren’t embarking on a massive rebuild like they were in 2017, but Skubal is a free agent at season’s end. Like 2017, a season that began with postseason aspirations has proven disappointing. Detroit is on the edge of postseason contention but struggling to find the kind of momentum that the Red Sox found.
With the Trade Deadline looming Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. ET, it’s hard not to think of this as potentially farewell, or a chance to give thanks just in case, even if Skubal isn’t thinking that way.
“I’ve gotta play baseball. I need to do my job,” Skubal said. “I have to put my team in a position to win a baseball game, and that’s all I can control.”
Asked about the noise of trade rumors, Skubal said, “The noise is from you guys, not from me. The noise isn’t in this clubhouse. The narratives out there, I don’t control any of that, so why would I worry about it? My job’s to go out there and win. That’s all I can ask of myself to do, just go out there and compete. I’ve done that my entire career, so that won’t change.”
Skubal has pitched in 76 games at Comerica Park. When he first took the mound here in 2020, he did so without fans due to the COVID pandemic. While Skubal grew as a pitcher, so did the crowds. When he returned from flexor tendon surgery on July 4, 2023 with four hitless innings against the Athletics, then delivered four more scoreless innings against the Blue Jays five days later, he set in motion the career breakout that would make him not only a Cy Young winner, but a must-see event every time he pitched.
The crowd Wednesday afternoon will surely include a lot of fans looking to make sure their gratitude is noted.
“I’ve appreciated every single start that I’ve had at home,” Skubal said. “Even on the road, the support that the fans have given me is second to none. I truly appreciate that. The [trade] questions, they follow you everywhere, especially me in my life. I have a family that’s also asking questions, too. But I truly don’t know what’s going on. Those questions aren’t really for me. That’s kind of how I handle it.”
Mixed in with fans Wednesday will be scouts from at least a half-dozen organizations, some from teams connected with Skubal in trade rumors, some from other contenders. The trade speculation has reached the point that manager A.J. Hinch was asked Tuesday about the risk of pitching Skubal ahead of the Trade Deadline.
“We’re trying to win a series, so that puts us in a better position to be a playoff team,” Hinch said. “The information I have is [to] win the series. We have to win to put us in that position. So I’m fully expecting him to pitch.”
Said Skubal: “I’m pitching [Wednesday]. I’ve got something cool that I want to accomplish at home. That won’t change.”
That feat is 1,000 career strikeouts. Skubal, currently at 999, nearly got it in his last start and was admittedly pushing to stay in the game beyond his 7 1/3 innings to try to get it, but Hinch wasn’t going to risk his ace for a milestone, knowing he’d be pitching again at least once.
Just 16 pitchers have recorded 1,000 strikeouts as a Tiger. The list includes Hall of Famers Jack Morris (1,980), Hal Newhouser (1,770) and Jim Bunning (1,406), likely future Hall of Famers in Verlander (2,374) and Max Scherzer (1,081), and a longtime Hall of Fame candidate in Mickey Lolich (2,679).
Barring something crazy, Skubal will join the club. Then he can wonder how many more strikeouts he’ll get as a Tiger.
