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Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games.
In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers.
“The game’s changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they’ve ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game,” Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. “I want him thinking a lot about it. I don’t want it to be an easy decision.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal #29 delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians on May 25, 2025 at Comerica Park. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) –> <!–>
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“That’s kind of that’s what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There’s probably been a little bit of less value in that in today’s game as it was five, 10 years ago.”
Justin Verlander laments that fact.
“Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning,” he said.
Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries.
The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons.
“Even at that time, that was a little old school,” Verlander said. “Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days.”
When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual.
“I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning,” he said. “There’s going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I’m not too proud of those ones. I’m proud of ones I’m in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys.”
[Related: Last Night in Baseball: Tarik Skubal goes Maddux, historically so]
In Skubal’s last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors, and a complete-game shutout thrown in under 100 pitches is nicknamed a “Maddux,” in honor of Greg Maddux, a leader in efficiency in an era of inflated pitch counts.
That kind of efficiency is also what allowed Skubal to throw a record 102.6 mph, per Statcast’s measurement, on his final pitch of the game. Which was also the fastest recorded velocity of any pitch 75+ pitches into a start.
Skubal has yet to surpass 96 pitches in a start in 2025, and exceeded the 100-pitch mark just four times in 31 starts a year ago, while averaging over six innings per start – Skubal made it to the seventh inning throwing between 74 and 91 pitches on nine occasions in 2024. He’s averaging nearly 6.1 innings per start in 2025, with the same level of pitch efficiency.
If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient as Skubal was on Sunday, then Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning.
“If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in,” Hinch said.
Hinch said it’s not an indictment on starters when they don’t last deep in games, adding it’s not a “healthy badge of honor,” to just leave pitchers on the mound because they’re having a good day.
Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter.
“As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest’s first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle’s first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter’s first pitch?” Hinch asked. “The answer is no.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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