Tarik Skubal made his first minor league rehab appearance since elbow surgery, delivering five scoreless innings for Single-A West Michigan, striking out six and needing 44 strikes on 54 pitches.
COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — Detroit’s rehab schedule started with a calm, controlled outing.
Tarik Skubal pitched five scoreless innings Sunday in his first minor league rehabilitation appearance since undergoing elbow surgery last month. The two-time Cy Young Award winner worked against Dayton for Single-A West Michigan, striking out six and allowing two hits. Skubal threw 54 pitches, with 44 of them coming as strikes.
“I think velocity was good,” Skubal told reporters. “Execution was good. I feel like I threw a ton of strikes. I was in the zone a lot today. Good day.”
For a pitcher returning from elbow trouble, the day wasn’t just about the zeros on the scoreboard. Skubal’s language—about feel, about execution, about waking up better—carried the same message as the stat line: the work needed to be clean before the next step could even be discussed.
Skubal, 29, had a non-invasive procedure on May 6 to remove a loose body from his throwing elbow. His last appearance for the Tigers came on April 29.
On the season, Skubal has been a front-line force when he’s been available. He is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts, striking out 45 and walking only six over 43.1 innings. He has won the AL Cy Young Award each of the last two seasons.
After the rehab start, the question everyone wanted answered was simple: when does it become Tigers baseball again? Skubal didn’t give a date. What he did give was the outline of what comes next.
“There’s a plan in place,” Skubal said. “I need to wake up and feel better. feel good tomorrow and have a good week of work and then we’ll make that decision when we need to make it. It doesn’t really do me any good to tell you guys when I’m pitching next. I need to make sure that I bounce back from this one really well.”.
Now the focus shifts from the mound at Comstock Park to what follows the next day and the next week. Skubal has proven he can miss bats and limit baserunners this season—but Sunday’s performance will matter most if it translates into the kind of recovery that lets Detroit build the next piece of the plan.
Tarik Skubal Detroit Tigers rehab appearance minor league rehabilitation elbow surgery Single-A West Michigan Dayton Cy Young Award
5 scoreless rehab innings already?? Just put him back in Detroit like yesterday lol
44 strikes on 54 pitches sounds wild. But rehab is rehab right? Like he can still hurt it again just by being “in the zone”.
Wait so he had elbow surgery to remove a loose body May 6… and he’s already throwing 54 pitches in Single-A? That’s crazy fast. I thought the arm would be cooked for months. Also Dayton?? who even is Dayton in this.
Elbow stuff scares me. Non-invasive procedure or not, five scoreless doesn’t mean his next start won’t be a mess. I saw someone say “velocity was good” and I’m like well velocity don’t fix everything, ya know?