LAKELAND, Fla. – The Tigers rotation now includes four former Opening Day starters, including two who have done so for Detroit. But for this year’s squad, there’s only one choice for when the season begins on March 26 in San Diego.
"Tarik Skubal,” manager A.J. Hinch replied Wednesday morning, getting the obvious out of the way on the first day of Spring Training.
It’ll be the third consecutive Opening Day assignment for Skubal. He’ll be the first Tiger to earn that distinction since their newest starter, Justin Verlander, started nine Opening Days in a 10-year span from 2008-17, interrupted only by David Price’s Opening Day assignment in 2015.
Other Tigers pitchers to start on Opening Day in three consecutive seasons include the late Mickey Lolich (1970-74), Mike Moore (1993-95), Hall of Famers Jack Morris (1980-90) and Hal Newhouser (1945-49), and George Mullin (1903-07, 1909-13).
Skubal has bookended the past two Tigers seasons, having started both Opening Day and Game 5 of their AL Division Series. Just as there’s no one else the Tigers would want more with their season on the line, there’s no better choice to lead the Tigers onto the field to open the year. His back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards reinforce the point.
All three Opening Day assignments for Skubal have been road games. He tossed six scoreless innings in Chicago to beat the White Sox on March 28, 2024, then opened last season at Dodger Stadium with a loss, giving up four runs on two homers in five innings with a walk and two strikeouts in a 5-4 defeat.
Skubal lost his first two starts last season, then didn’t drop another decision until July 11. He went 10-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 1.50 FIP in between losses, with the Tigers winning 14 of his 16 starts.
Skubal picked up one victory off the field last week in winning his arbitration case, earning an arbitration-record $32 million salary in the process, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. President of baseball operations Scott Harris said Wednesday morning there was no impact on their relationship.
“We love Tarik. The relationship is great,” Harris said. “I’m not a big fan of arbitration generally. We’ve settled with every single player since I’ve been here and avoided a hearing room except for Tarik. That’s how this process goes. I’m just glad it’s over. I’m glad we can focus on baseball. I’m glad we can focus on all this roster can achieve this year.”
No one is better set to lead that mentality with Skubal, who will talk with reporters on Thursday for the first time since the arbitration process.