Sacramento, Calif. — Tarik Skubal walked from the dugout, across the field, to the Tigers’ clubhouse in the third inning Saturday night. That’s something he did on Friday night, too, just to move around and get out of the heat for a few innings.
This time, though, he didn’t rejoin his teammates for the final innings of the game.
“I got a phone call,” he said. “And I knew what that was about.”
The phone call was the news that Skubal, the reigning two-time Cy Young winner and the ace of the Tigers’ pitching staff, had been traded to the reigning two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Going into the season, this isn’t what I planned on doing,” said Skubal, who waited around to say goodbye to his coaches and teammates. “But circumstances change, situations change.”
In return for Skubal, the Tigers received one potentially big-league ready pitcher, right-hander River Ryan, and two prospects, right-hander Brady Smith and outfield prospect Zyhir Hope.
“I’m very appreciative of everything the Tigers have done for me,” Skubal said. “Just drafting me in 2018, giving a kid a chance out of a small school. Giving me the resources to use. Everything has been at my disposal. Whatever I wanted, they always had an answer. They always had a plan for me.”
Skubal, despite missing five weeks after having a loose body in his elbow arthroscopically removed, posted a 2.79 ERA and 0.910 WHIP in 16 starts this season. In his seven seasons in Detroit, he was 61-42 with a 3.04 ERA in 153 games (150 starts). He got his 1,000th strikeout in his last start against the Orioles.
“I feel like I experienced a lot,” he said. “I went through the ups and downs and gone through a lot of failure early in my career. And the club never stopped believing in me. They kept me running me out there every fifth day when I probably didn’t deserve to be. I’ll never take that for granted, just the way the fans supported me and my family, too.
“It meant a lot to me.”
Skubal acknowledged that he’s leaving with his ultimate mission unfulfilled.
“And that’s very tough,” he said. “All offseason, ever since the 2024 Game 5 and the failure that I experienced on the mound. I used that as fuel to try to bring a World Series to the city of Detroit. I truly did.”
He was referencing the series-flipping grand slam home run he gave up to Cleveland’s Lane Thomas in Game 5 of the ALDS in 2024.
“Then we lost Game 5 again (last year) and that failure sparked even more motivation just to dig deeper and see how good you can truly be,” he said. “The goal was always to win a World Series for this city and this organization that took a chance on me. It’s really tough. I love all these guys. They are some of my best friends.”
Skubal choked up at that point and he tried to shift his focus forward.
“I am excited to be a Dodger,” he said. “Excited to get down there and meet those guys. A chance to win three championships in a row. I am excited to be a part of that.”
Manager AJ Hinch said he started hearing the fans seated behind the dugout saying that Skubal had been traded in the middle of the game. And when Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty and Justin Verlander all came back into the dugout in the eighth inning, the news had been spread through the team.
“We’ve been bracing for something like this to happen,” Hinch said. “Even though we’ve been talking about it for a couple of months, it’s still tough when it becomes a reality. But these guys are pretty resilient.”
Hinch hadn’t yet spoken to Skubal when he addressed the medial after the Tigers’ 8-6 win against the Athletics.
“It’s been incredible to watch this guy rise to the top of the sport,” he said. “He carried us a lot and I am forever grateful that our paths crossed. And for the things he did for this organization and the two playoff teams. His presence, his work ethic, his example, his dominance, there’s just so much to go through. But I am very grateful I was able to manage him for the time I did.”
Skubal is expected to be the most sought-after free agent on the market this offseason, which is why, after the Tigers had fallen farther out of the playoff chase, president Scott Harris began fielding offers. But he didn’t start doing that until this weekend.
“We have a lot of talent in that room,” Hinch said. “We’ve put together some pretty good baseball for a long time. Of course, a lot of people will question it because the team is not intact anymore after someone like Tarik is traded. But the fact of the matter is, we’ve got a game tomorrow. It moves on fast. We’ve got to sort through a lot of emotions and a lot of reality.
“But we have a good team. I continue to say that and I believe it. We’re going to need to make some adjustments, but the priorities, the standard and the push for the season doesn’t stop.”
Here’s what the Tigers got back:
Ryan, 27, was pitching in Triple-A in his first year back off Tommy John surgery. He is a starting pitcher and was 3-1 with a 4.95 ERA. He’s averaging 10.2 strikeouts and just two walks per nine innings. He was an 11th-round pick of the Padres and pitched in four games with them in 2024.
Smith, 21, was the Dodgers’ third-round pick in 2023 and made it to High-A this season.
Hope, 21, was the Dodgers’ No. 5-rated prospect (No. 25 in MLB). He was slashing .293/.369/.530 with an .899 OPS at Double-A Tulsa, with 23 home runs and 87 RBI.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tarik Skubal ‘excited to be a Dodger’ after deal for prospects
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
