COMSTOCK PARK – Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was pleased with his rehab start for the West Michigan Whitecaps on Sunday, June 7, throwing five scoreless innings while touching 99 mph.
But Skubal danced around the question of when he might pitch next, either for the Tigers or on another rehab start.
“That’s a good question that I’m not going to answer,” he said at LMCU Ballpark. “There’s a plan in place. I need to wake up and feel good tomorrow, and have a good week of work. Then we’ll make that decision. But it doesn’t really do me any good to tell you guys what I’m pitching next. I need to make sure that I bounce back from this one really well.”
Skubal threw 54 pitches, 44 of them strikes. As a two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, Skubal had no problem dominating the Dayton Dragons – the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds – and creating some weak swings. He recorded six strikeouts and no walks while giving up two hits.
The official radar gun had his fastball at 99 mph, while the in-stadium radar gun was significantly slower.
“Really hope that gun out there isn’t right, because that means I’m throwing slow,” Skubal said with a smile. “I think velocity was good, execution was good. I threw a ton of strikes, I was in the zone a lot today, so it’s a good day.”
Skuba hasn’t pitched for the Tigers since April 29. He underwent surgery May 6 to remove a bone chip from his elbow.
And he was pleased with his first official game action since the surgery.
Facing 17 batters, Skubal got five ground outs and one fly out – a deep ball to center that was caught at the warning track
After finishing the fifth inning, Skubal didn’t go into the dugout. He turned and walked slowly toward the outfield. He finished his outing in the bullpen.
As he walked, the sold out crowd gave him a standing ovation.
He threw 15 more pitches in the bullpen.
“I think the shapes were pretty good,” Skubal said. “There were some changeups that I cut a little bit that didn’t have the depth that they normally do have, and that’s a product of a lot of different things. The wind, the stadium, the mound. I asked about velocities and they said they were good. I said, ‘are my shapes good?’ And they said, ‘Yeah.’
“I’m sure I’ll get a report about it, and kind of go through it, sift through it. I think the results were good, the execution was good, and I think that matters more than the shapes right now.”
Skubal was nearly immaculate in the first inning.
Skubal threw eight pitches – all strikes – recording two strikeouts and getting a groundout to second base. He touched 98 mph.
“I thought that was gonna be special,” Skubal said.
Skubal credited West Michigan catcher Bennett Lee.
“I thought Bennett called a good game,” Skubal said. “We were on the same page with almost everything. I don’t think there may have been one shake in there, but I love the way he used big spin, especially in these circumstances, most guys are gonna go up there and swing at everything. So, yeah, I thought I competed well and executed pitches well, and I feel good now. So, that’s kind of the most important thing.”
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal looked dominant in rehab, so when will he rejoin Tigers?
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
