He made his Major League debut during the 2020 campaign before ascending to prominence over the next few years. He cemented his status as one of the game’s elite starting pitchers from 2024-25, when he won back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards.
And he did all of that with the Tigers. Now, Tarik Skubal is slated to face his former team for the first time when the Dodgers open a weekend series against Detroit on Friday (6:40 p.m. ET/3:40 PT).
The Dodgers announced that Skubal, whom they acquired in a blockbuster deal prior to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, will take the mound at Comerica Park, where he became one of the most dominant hurlers in the Majors and helped the Tigers reach the postseason in 2024 and ’25, the first playoff appearances for the franchise in a decade.
Upon being traded earlier this month, Skubal expressed appreciation for all that the Tigers organization had done for him and said that leaving Detroit to join Los Angeles produced a “rollercoaster” of emotions for him.
“The goal was always to win a World Series for the city [of Detroit], the organization that took a chance on me,” Skubal said. “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. It’s hard to do.”
Over his first four starts since joining the two-time defending World Series champions, Skubal has pitched to a 3.38 ERA in 24 innings, striking out 30 and walking seven. The 29-year-old left-hander picked up his first win with the Dodgers last Saturday, when he gave up three runs over seven innings against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium, walking one and striking out 11.
Skubal yielded all three runs in the first inning, and all five hits against him came in the first and second frames. From there, he retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced and completed seven innings for the first time since the trade. His fastball hit 100 mph when he struck out the side in the sixth.
"Early in games, I might just be trying to feel it out too much instead of just competing with what I got in that moment," Skubal said afterward. "That's something that I need to make a change for."
Skubal will look to be dominant from the get-go on Friday. But this start will be different than any of the 154 he has made thus far in his Major League career. He’ll be facing the only team he had ever known as a professional until about three weeks ago.