{"id":1028454,"date":"2026-08-28T00:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T00:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1028454\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T00:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T00:28:45","slug":"tarik-skubal-returns-to-detroit-to-face-the-tigers-his-focus-is-on-the-task-at-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1028454\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit to face the Tigers. His focus is on the task at hand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ATLANTA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Lefty Tarik Skubal<\/a> hasn\u2019t had time to fully reflect on his time in Detroit. When he learned at the beginning of the month that he was being traded<\/a> to the Dodgers,<\/a> he had one night of emotional goodbyes, before shifting his focus the next morning to preparing to face the Cubs in a few days.<\/p>\n

Friday won\u2019t be the right time either. He\u2019s scheduled to take the mound against the Tigers, the only organization he\u2019d played for up until three and a half weeks ago, in the series opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play baseball, and I don\u2019t really want to let any noise or anything outside change or take away from my ability to go play baseball and put our team in a position to win,\u201d he said in a recent conversation with The Times. \u201cSo that\u2019s where my focus is always at. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s opening day of the season, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s spring training, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the dog days of July, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the postseason. For me, the game is always the same game, and that\u2019s something that I take a ton of pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in his short time with the Dodgers, Skubal has thrown himself into the task at hand, from the way he\u2019s pitched, to his commitment to connecting with his new teammates, to how he\u2019s handled questions about his impending free agency.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, after the World Series favorites traded for the best pitcher available, they lost the next six games as part of a seven-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone around here was like, \u2018Hey, we win games here,\u2019\u201d Skubal said. \u201cAnd I go, \u2018I don\u2019t know, maybe it\u2019s me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the Dodgers did win a game with Skubal on the roster. They even swept two series straight \u2014 before running into the Braves this week. And as Skubal has settled in, he\u2019s enjoyed the sheer abundance of baseball conversations going on around him all the time, whether it be a pitcher chatting with the pitching coaches about sequencing, or hitters breaking down how an opposing pitcher attacked him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s ego is too big to ask a question and try to learn from anybody,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cSo I think that\u2019s what makes this team so good. I think that\u2019s why they tick, and I think that\u2019s why they\u2019re so good, especially in September, is they\u2019re just not afraid to fail. They\u2019re going to try and learn as much from each other as possible. I just love being a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, his new teammates have loved him embracing them right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t tell whether he\u2019s pitching or not because his personality never changes,\u201d Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> said. \u201cAnd I appreciate how talkative he is, like even during his starts, like in the middle of the game, which is kind of refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already, Skubal\u2019s joining in on pregame handshake lines and slapping the dugout railing<\/a> in time to Roki Sasaki<\/a>\u2019s warm-up music. After Miguel Rojas<\/a> nicknamed him \u201cScooby Doo Pa Pa,\u201d Skubal used the song that inspired the name on an Instagram post.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of my career, if the one thing [all my ex-teammates] say about me is, \u2018Yeah, he was talented on the field, but he was an even better teammate,\u2019 that\u2019s what I want to be remembered as,\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n

Skubal is only under club control for the rest of the season, but he\u2019s consistently said he doesn\u2019t want to address free agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really am probably not going to get to that until this season\u2019s done,\u201d he said. \u201cUntil, hopefully, I\u2019m holding up a trophy and I\u2019m celebrating with these guys for two weeks, and I\u2019m going to [have a headache] for a month after.\u201d<\/p>\n

A video clip from Skubal\u2019s appearance on the podcast \u201cPardon My Take\u201d caused a stir on social media, when he said, \u201cI would love to play my whole career in Detroit\u201d and expresses hope that the Tigers are involved in negotiations in November. But Skubal points out the missing context in that clip.<\/p>\n

His response was to a question that described the Tigers trading him as an \u201cunfortunate part of where baseball is.\u201d He understood the premise as: smaller markets can\u2019t retain their stars.<\/p>\n

\"Tarik <\/p>\n

Pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) hugs Jack Flaherty in the dugout after getting pulled from his last start with the Tigers on July 29.<\/p>\n

(Paul Sancya \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich I don\u2019t agree with,\u201d said Skubal, who has thought a lot about the larger picture as a member of the MLB Players Assn. Executive Subcommittee. \u201cYou can retain whoever. Now, the longer you wait, the harder it is to get guys to give away the years to hit free agency. I think that\u2019s just the business of baseball, and that\u2019s not any different than any other sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

He backed his point with counterexamples on each side: the Royals signing homegrown star Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year extension worth $288.8 million guaranteed, and the Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge still hitting free agency in 2022 (before ultimately re-signing).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s narratives around the sport that I don\u2019t agree with, and that\u2019s one of them,\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n

Skubal also doesn\u2019t buy into the fascination with the 100-pitch threshold.<\/p>\n

He threw 109 and 106 pitches in each of his last two starts. Skubal had only surpassed 105 pitches twice before in his career, including the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really understand the difference between 98 and 107,\u201d he said. \u201cI always adjust my workload in between, based on what I\u2019m doing on the field anyways. My routine I trust a lot in terms of that, too, and how I go about my business to make sure that I feel good every fifth day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The Dodgers have struggled at times since the All-Star break, but Will Smith\u2019s return from injury and Shohei Ohtani\u2019s return to pitching should help.<\/p>\n

Clearly, even though he\u2019s coming off a May surgery to remove a bone chip from his left elbow, and will have free agency to worry about in a couple months, Skubal isn\u2019t being precious about his workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my games that I\u2019ve been pitching in have been pretty competitive,\u201d Skubal said, \u201cand I want to be on the mound in all those games and try to win as many games as I can for L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he and manager Dave Roberts<\/a> get more time together, Roberts will get an even better sense of how to read the southpaw\u2019s body language \u2014 something Skubal said they\u2019ve already had \u201cunique conversations\u201d about \u2014 to help him decide when to take him out of games and when to push him.<\/p>\n

They seem to be off to a solid start. As Skubal entered the dugout after the first inning of his last start, having given up three runs to the Pirates (\u201cbad luck, but also some bad execution,\u201d Skubal said), Roberts said: \u201cThat\u2019s all they get today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly how the game played out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could have said that, and I could have given him five runs,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cBut he said that, and mentally, I\u2019m like, he\u2019s got my back. He knows, keep us in the game, and we\u2019re going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Skubal excels at focusing on the present, he also seems to sense how much weight his words carry. Wanting to avoid out-of-context reading between the lines as he praised the Dodgers, Skubal made sure to note that he wasn\u2019t comparing his new situation with his old one.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s made clear over and over how special his time in Detroit was to him.<\/p>\n

Skubal\u2019s resolve hasn\u2019t been tested in exactly the way it will be on Friday. But he\u2019s performed on that same mound under unique circumstances.<\/p>\n

When Skubal took the mound in his last start for the Tigers on July 29, he knew it could be a turning point for him and the club. The Tigers lost in extra innings, but he made a quality start and recorded his 1,000th career strikeout before leaving the game to a standing ovation at Comerica Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really appreciate that stuff,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cAnd I went down the tunnel and had some conversations with coaches that were pretty emotional too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou appreciate everything because without fans, this game is nothing. If no one showed up, we wouldn\u2019t be able to play baseball for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s sure to have quite the reception on Friday, too. And even though Skubal excels at compartmentalizing, Roberts had one request for the Tigers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they do the festivities the night after we win on Friday,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cso the emotion doesn\u2019t get to him and he can just kind of enjoy the welcome back.\u201d<\/p>\n