LAKELAND, FL — In Monday’s Spring Training exhibition game vs. the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal picked up right where he left off last season during October in Seattle vs. the Mariners.
Although Monday’s showing was on a much lesser scale, pitching two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Detroit’s loss to the Mariners last October in the ALDS at T-Mobile Park probably stung even more for Skubal since he went to college at Seattle University from 2016 to 2018. From his days on the mound as a Redhawk—the 29-year-old left-hander would even say so himself that he wasn’t supposed to become one of the greatest pitchers in the world—getting selected in the 29th round by the Diamondbacks in the 2017 MLB Draft, deciding to stay in school, then receiving the call again from the Tigers a year later in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Seattle University was the only school to offer him a Division I baseball opportunity and they weren’t even a Power-Five school. This is a key reason on why Skubal never takes anything for granted on and off the mound. He doesn’t forget where he came from and the road he had to take to get to where he is. It’s on display daily in his work ethic and as of recently, with his pride and excitement of representing the USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
On the day of his start Skubal, like many of his teammates and those across the country, was locked into the Gold Medal Winter Olympics hockey game between Team USA and Team Canada when the media walked into the clubhouse.
Skubal’s Detroit Red Wings jersey was visibly hanging up in his locker. He always loves supporting athletes of the Motor City in other sports, and I think it’s part of the competitive spirit that drives him on the mound. You can even see it in his bullpens before home and road games. Monday was a similar site, attracting a massive crowd in his Spring Training bullpen.
“You watch the USA-Canada Hockey game? You should have been in our clubhouse when they won it! I wish it had happened in whatever time slot you guys had in there,” Skubal told Latino Sports. “I think the whole place erupted when Team USA hit that goal.”
“I hope I have a similar impact for Team USA and being able to celebrate with those guys something special like that,” he added. “I know it’s not a gold medal, but it’s still a World Baseball Classic.”
This came from a question on how he thinks the atmosphere of the World Baseball Classic would compare to postseason baseball.
“I’ve heard that the WBC is pretty close to a postseason atmosphere. It’s going to be a ton of fun to go out,” Skubal said. “And just the clubhouse and sharing the locker room with these guys.”
The only drawback for Skubal is that he won’t be throwing in the knockout rounds if Team USA were to make it out of Pool B—played in Houston, Texas from March 6th-11th. Skubal told the media he will only make one start in Pool B play. He maintained a desire to keep the balance and the best of both worlds in regard to honoring his commitment with the Tigers and pitching for Team USA.
“The whole point of me doing the WBC was to make sure that I could stay on a normal workload of a Spring Training regimen and be able to make a start for Team USA and then come back here and continue my normal routine to get ready for Opening Day,” Skubal said. “I think everything’s going to stay the same. I’m not ramping up earlier than I need to. I don’t want that narrative out there. I’m treating this as I’m going to Team USA, making a start, coming back to Lakeland and getting ready to go for Opening Day.”
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