Skubal set for rehab start, which Tigers hope is last step before return

DETROIT -- Tarik Skubal’s next team has been revealed: The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is about to become a West Michigan Whitecap, making a rehab start with the High-A club on Sunday.

The start against Dayton could be the final step in Skubal’s rehab following surgery to remove a loose body from his left elbow. If all goes well, he would be in line to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation next weekend in Cleveland during an AL Central clash that could be critical to determining whether the Tigers get back into playoff contention or Skubal becomes the biggest name on the market at the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.

"Hopefully it’s a one-[start] stint, and he can come back to the big leagues,” manager A.J. Hinch said Friday.

Skubal will likely get stretched out to around 75 pitches. He threw 64 pitches during his last simulated game on Monday at Tropicana Field.

It’ll be Skubal’s first Minor League appearance since 2023, when he made three rehab starts with West Michigan and Triple-A Toledo on his way back from flexor tendon surgery. That included a two-inning, 12-pitch start for the Whitecaps in Dayton.

“We have some history,” Skubal laughed. “There were two innings and they swung at every pitch, and I’m like, ‘Guys, this does nothing for anybody involved.’”

He has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball in the three years since then, posting a 41-15 record with a 2.41 ERA, 2.37 FIP and 616 strikeouts over 511 innings on his way to back-to-back Cy Young Awards.

Skubal could have lined up for a rehab start with Toledo, as Justin Verlander did on Tuesday, but the Mud Hens face an iffy weather forecast this weekend in Iowa, where they’re finishing a six-game series against the Cubs’ top affiliate. The Whitecaps are home this weekend against Dayton, allowing Skubal to drive to Grand Rapids, where the weekend forecast is more favorable.

“I’m excited to go out there and compete. I don’t really care what level it’s at,” Skubal said. “Ideally it would probably be Triple-A, but the weather there doesn’t seem like the smart move to send me there and potentially not even throw at all.”

The Whitecaps' roster includes shortstop Bryce Rainer, the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect, as well as a few pitching prospects in left-handers Andrew Sears (No. 8) and Ben Jacobs (No. 15) and right-hander Lucas Elissalt (No. 16). Skubal will fulfill the tradition of rehabbing Major Leaguers treating Minor Leaguers to a postgame food spread from a local restaurant, and add in a pregame treat.

“There’s going to be a coffee cart,” Skubal said, “because I think that’s the most important thing: Make sure you’re caffeinated to go out and play. And then I’ll take care of some postgame stuff and kind of give them a taste of what the big leagues is.

“And obviously any questions they’ve got for me, I’m going to be an open book. I’ve tried to do that with every Minor League guy, even our coordinators: 'Hey, reach out. If anyone has questions, I’m an open book.'

"Because it takes a lot more than just 40 guys on the roster to win. It takes an organization to continue to produce really good prospects that come up and have success, to sustain success like that. I understand the importance of the Minor Leagues. There’s probably going to be a handful of guys in that room that make it and are really good.”