ATLANTA -- When Tarik Skubal takes the mound on Friday night at Comerica Park, it will mark his 155th career Major League start. But for the 29-year-old left-hander, this one will feel fundamentally different than the first 154.
For the first time in his professional career, Skubal will be Detroit's opponent.
Skubal opens a three-game series against the team that drafted him, developed him and helped elevate him into one of the game's most dominant starters, and the matchup comes just three weeks after he was acquired by the Dodgers in a blockbuster deal at the Trade Deadline.
"Obviously, it's pretty weird to think about facing someone who was just in our clubhouse, and that's the nature of the Trade Deadline," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "You know you can multiply it, because anything around Tarik is pretty extreme.
"I think everybody started mapping it out the day that he got traded and wondering how the rotation was going to hit. It's going to be emotional all over again, but it's part of it."
Skubal built a decorated resume while in the Motor City. After debuting during the 2020 season, he anchored Detroit’s rotation and led the franchise to back-to-back ALDS appearances in '24 and '25, while earning consecutive AL Cy Young Awards.
When the Dodgers acquired him on Aug. 1 in exchange for a package of prospects, Skubal admitted the sudden transition from Detroit to a team chasing a third consecutive World Series title was a "roller coaster" of emotions.
"The goal was always to win a World Series for the city [of Detroit], the organization that took a chance on me," Skubal said after the trade. "It’s tough. I love all those guys in [the Tigers' clubhouse]. They’re some of my best friends. At this time, I’m excited to be a Dodger. I’m excited to get down there and meet all those guys and chase three championships in a row."
Skubal’s transition to Los Angeles reached a high mark last Saturday against Pittsburgh, when he threw seven dominant innings, striking out 11 batters and retiring 18 of his final 19 hitters while touching 100 mph in the sixth inning. Through four starts with the Dodgers, he owns a 3.38 ERA with 30 strikeouts across 24 innings.
Now, Skubal's former teammates are preparing for the rare challenge of stepping into the batter's box against their former ace.
"He's a Cy Young for a reason, but you want to play the best, and he's the best. So I think the guys are looking forward to the opportunity to face him," Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. "Obviously, [I] love him, great friend, but in between the lines, we're trying to beat each other."
Torkelson noted that while the Tigers know Skubal’s arsenal well, hitting his stuff remains an entirely different task.
"I think we know him [as a pitcher] really well, but it doesn't mean we know what he's going to throw every single time or where he's going to throw it," Torkelson added. "So, I think we still have to have solid plans at the plate and kind of know the way he's going to attack us. But it's just like any tough pitcher; you just have to grind him out."
Beyond the matchup, one specific detail stands out. When Skubal cleared out his locker in Detroit, he didn't leave anything behind. The avid coffee drinker made sure the high-end espresso machine he personally bought for the Tigers’ clubhouse earlier this season was packed for his move to L.A. -- something that didn’t go unnoticed by his former teammates.
"Just a little friendly banter, because he took the espresso machine with him," Torkelson joked. "It was a nice espresso machine. I would've taken it, too. But, like... he took it."
When told of the missing appliance, Hinch offered a smile, pointing out that the coffee maker wasn't the only premium asset Detroit lost in the deal.
"I know, yeah," Hinch quipped. "He also took his fastball-change combo."
For the Tigers, facing that fastball-changeup pairing will require compartmentalizing deep personal relationships once the first pitch is thrown.
"We have to do a good job of separating the bond with the human and then the competitor," Hinch said. "When the game starts, I think things will normalize, and we have a real challenge to face someone of his talent. All the sort of inside jokes and times that we've had, that'll be natural.
"I said earlier on the radio that when he got traded, I was sort of rooting for this to be pushed into the future and not have to do it a couple weeks later. But that's the challenge in front of us, and we can have a ton of respect for him and his time here -- but also try to make it a bad Friday for him."