Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal deservingly won the AL Cy Young last season after a dominant campaign, helping take his ball club to the playoffs.
Last August, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge praised Skubal, calling him the best pitcher in the big leagues:
“He’s the best pitcher in the game right now. … When he came back last year at the end of the year, he hit a different gear, a different level,” Judge said, via MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. “It’s not fun facing a guy like that, but it’s fun competing against the best.”
Skubal was asked about those comments this week at spring training and made it clear that it was very special coming from the “best player in baseball”.
Via NJ.com:
“I’ve had some fun interactions with Aaron Judge, too, on the mound, which is cool, and then some postgame comments out of him of what he said about me,” Skubal said to ESPN’s Buster Olney this week. Those are pretty meaningful words when it comes from the best player in baseball.”
Judge actually swung it well against the Tigers ace last year, going 3 for 6 with a home run. But, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Judge knows how much of a stud Skubal truly is.
In 2024, the southpaw went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA, striking out 228 hitters in just 192 innings of work. He led the entire Majors in wins. Skubal also walked just 35 hitters, showing pinpoint command on a weekly basis.
Skubal is a huge piece for this young Detroit team and will be relied upon to lead the rotation once again in ’25. While he was arguably the best in the game last season, the 28-year-old was trending in this direction the two seasons prior with a 2.80 ERA in 2023 and 3.52 ERA in 2022. Hopefully, another dominant campaign is coming.
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