MLB free agency overhaul could spark a winter signing frenzy
MLB proposes free agency overhaul that could turn the Winter Meetings into a fast paced signing frenzy.
Less than a month after he was traded, Tarik Skubal will confront the most surreal experience he can imagine: Climbing the Comerica Park mound aiming to shut down the Detroit Tigers.
Skubal will make his first start for his old team after they dealt him to the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 1, marrying the game’s most dominant left-hander with its burgeoning dynasty.
Friday, Aug. 28, Skubal will cope with what he left behind.
“I’m sure it will be emotional there,” Skubal told reporters, “because of the history.”
And also for what they couldn’t accomplish. Skubal twice led them to the playoffs and into the AL Division Series, but they fell to Cleveland and Seattle in consecutive seasons. This year’s club had World Series aspirations yet now are 62-71 and 9-12 since dealing Skubal and fellow right-hander Casey Mize.
This will be Skubal’s fifth start with the Dodgers; they have won two and lost two as he’s posted a 3.38 ERA.
Tarik Skubal is enjoying the significant depth the Dodgers possess.
With their shutout streak threatening to reach 17 innings, Roberts threw a pair of pinch-hitters with runners on in the top of the sixth. The second one – World Series hero Miguel Rojas – came through, lining a single off lefty reliever Drew Sommers to tie the game, 1-1. Alas, Shohei Ohtani struck out to strand two runners, keeping the game tied.
Rojas’s hit broke a shutout string that stretched to Tuesday in Atlanta, where the Dodgers got swept. Now, at just 71 pitches through five innings, Skubal has another chance to nail down a win.
After yielding a leadoff double to Eduardo Valencia in the fifth inning, Tarik Skubal made easy work of longtime teammate Spencer Torkelson and looked like he’d escape with no damage.
And then Max Clark, the 21-year-old rookie, did some damage against hte two-time Cy Young winner.
Clark, after striking out on three pitches in his first look at Skubal, whacked a 99-mph fastball the opposite way down the third base line. Valencia scored easily and, after another Teoscar Hernández adventure in left field, Clark chugged into third with an RBI triple and an exorbitant scream.
Clark gifted Skubal a nice chain earlier in the year. This time, he took something off Skubal. And the Tigers have a 1-0 lead off their old friend.
We interrupt SkubalFest for a gentle reminder that the Dodgers are still down pretty bad.
Their offense has been held scoreless for 16 consecutive innings after right-hander Drew Anderson and reliever Will Sommer escaped the fifth inning, Sommer relieving with the bases loaded to strike out Max Muncy and strand three in the scoreless game.
It’s admittedly a tough back-to-back: Chris Sale on Thursday in Atlanta; he pitched a five-hit shutout. Then the changeup-heavy Anderson was effectively wild, walking five and giving up four hits – but no runs.
Tarik Skubal has locked it in.
He needed just 53 pitches to complete four shutout innings in his return to Comerica Park, keeping his Dodgers locked in a scoreless tie with the Tigers. Skubal has struck out six, walked none and given up just Gleyber Torres’s leadoff double. Since, he’s been untouchable.
His old teammates are starting to see what makes Skubal such a miserable matchup: Swing early, and end up with early-count outs that keep Skubal’s pitch count down. Or, take a pitch or two and end up in an 0-2 hole, Skubal likely to finish you off with his devastating changeup.
For now, he’s almost halfway home to a shutout – so long as the Dodgers can score a run for him.
Tarik Skubal and top Detroit Tigers teammate Max Clark were the briefest of teammates, sharing a clubhouse for just a couple days between Clark’s call-up and Skubal’s trade to the Dodgers while the Tigers were in West Sacramento.
Their first big league showdown was similarly brief.
Clark struck out Clark on three pitches – sinker, fastball, changeup, sit down – and then did the same to No. 9 hitter Javy Báez. Gleyber Torres battled him for six pitches before taking a called third on a changeup that dotted the lower inside corner and kept it a scoreless game.
Twelve pitches, three outs, and three scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Yep, Tarik Skubal’s back.
There were cheers and another standing ovation, a handful of “Skooooobs!” and perhaps some boos when Tarik Skubal took the Comerica Park mound Friday. And then Gleyber Torres provided an even louder noise, ripping a double to center field on Skubal’s second pitch of the game.
The partisan crowd roared as Torres, the lone Tiger in the lineup who’d ever faced Skubal – as a Yankee – trotted into second. But then the two-time Cy Young Award winner locked in, striking out Hao-Yu Lee and rookie All-Star Kevin McGonigle. That set up a matchup with his former batterymate, catcher Dillon Dingler, and the two exchanged subtle nods before getting to business.
Skubal eventually won the battle, getting Dingler on a fly to center. But it was game on – and gamesmanship on.
It figured to be an emotional night. The Detroit Tigers and Tarik Skubal got that out of the way immediately.
The Tigers played a Skubal tribute video timed up for Skubal’s walk from the visiting bullpen to the dugout some 10 minutes before first pitch. As highlights from his first major league start and receiving one of his Cy Young Awards played, Skubal turned and watched the highlights as he kept walking.
He spotted a teammate across the field, pointed and pounded his chest in appreciation. Dapped up his Dodger teammates, per pre-start custom, as he neared the infield. And then, with a towel draped around his shoulders, wiped away tears on multiple occasions.
The Tigers fans on hand rose and gave him a standing ovation as he completed his journey.
His new Dodgers teammates and coaches and manager Dave Roberts propped him up in the dugout. And then Skubal disappeared into the visiting clubhouse, just a few minutes to gather his emotions before facing his former team.
How to watch Skubal’s Dodgers vs Tigers
Watch MLB on Fubo
What time is Dodgers vs Tigers game?
First pitch in Detroit is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 28.
- Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Mookie Betts (R) SS
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Tommy Edman (S) 2B
- Kyle Tucker (L) RF
- Alek Thomas (L) CF
- Teoscar Hernández (R) LF
- Hunter Feduccia (L) C
- Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
- Hao-Yu Lee (R) 3B
- Kevin McGonigle (L) SS
- Dillon Dingler (R) C
- Eduardo Valencia (R) DH
- Ben Malgeri (R) RF
- Spencer Torkelson (R) 1B
- Max Clark (L) CF
- Javier Báez (R) LF
- Detroit Tigers: 16 starts, 7–5, 2.79 ERA, 96.2 IP, 116 K, 0.91 WHIP
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 4 starts, 1–2, 3.38 ERA, 24.0 IP, 30 K, 1.13 WHIP