September is the most important month on MLB regular-season calendar, which is why Detroit Tigers fans sounded the alarm when ace Tarik Skubal sustained a left side injury against the Miami Marlins last week. The ailment ended up being nothing more than body tightness, leaving the Motor City to wonder when the reigning American League Cy Young winner will return to action.
It turns out that Skubal's next game could come as early as Thursday's showdown with the Cleveland Guardians, according to Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
"(Skubal) threw his normal bullpen (on Monday), we're going day by day... We'll inch towards his next start, and right now that's penciled in for Thursday," Hinch said, via MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. "He's going to want to make that start, I already know it... Heading into the field (Tuesday), he's done everything as he normally would to make his next star."
Tigers' A.J. Hinch Hints Tarik Skubal Could Start Thursday vs. Guardians
The next few days will be crucial for Skubal's outlook, but the fact that he's acting like it's business as usual is encouraging. It looks like the Tigers dodged a huge bullet even if the 28-year-old southpaw ends up missing Thursday's contest, which bodes well for the club's short- and long-term goals.
It goes without saying that the Tigers wouldn't be the current AL Central leaders had it not been for another strong season from Skubal. The former 2018 ninth-rounder is in the middle of another All-Star campaign as he paces his fellow American League pitchers in WAR and ERA while being the MLB leader in WHIP, walks per nine innings, and strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
In fact, his current numbers are mostly improvements over last year's Cy Young performance:
Season | Record/WPercentage | ERA | WAR | WHIP | Hits Per 9 Innings | Ks Per 9 Innings | Walks Per 9 Innings | HRs Per 9 Innings | Strikeout to Walk Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 | 13-5 (72.2%) | 2.26 | 6.2 | 0.862 | 6.4 | 11.0 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 8.00 |
2024 | 18-4 (81.8%) | 2.39 | 6.4 | 0.922 | 6.7 | 10.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 6.51 |
If Skubal can continue his success into the postseason, the Tigers have to love their trajectory. Their ace has proven, more often than not, that he can go toe-to-toe with the best big-league arms throughout the regular season, and there's no reason to believe that will change in October. He must be full strength when the playoff action begins, though, which is why Detroit fans shouldn't be surprised that Hinch & Co. want to be cautious.
The last thing the Tigers need is for their playoff plans to implode because they forced Skubal's return. Fortunately, all signs point to the team and player handling the process correctly, and if both sides are confident that he'll be healthy enough by Thursday, he'll be out there.
Hopefully, this update is the beginning of Skubal putting his injury behind him. The Motor City is hungry for postseason baseball, and any success the Tigers see next month will live and die by their ace's health.