Skubal's heater nears 100 mph heading into break

KANSAS CITY -- The final pitch of Tarik Skubal’s second inning Wednesday was a sinker at 98.2 miles per hour, according to Statcast. Royals outfielder Edward Olivares hit it meekly on a line to shortstop. It was a big jump in velocity from Skubal’s previous inning, let alone his previous few starts.

When Skubal followed with 99.8 mph fastball on the outside edge to MJ Melendez for a called third strike to end the third inning, it was the hardest pitch of his Major League career according to Statcast.

“That's the best fastball I've had, I think, in my life honestly, today,” Skubal said.

He said as much to catcher Tucker Barnhart, who was already thinking it.

“Today was Skubal's best stuff, I would say, across the board,” Barnhart said.

It went for naught Wednesday, thanks to missed opportunities at the plate and a disastrous fourth inning in the field, sending Detroit to a 5-2 loss and Skubal to five runs (four earned) over six innings. That was manager A.J. Hinch’s primary concern. But as Skubal heads into the All-Star break and a welcomed chance to catch his breath after anchoring the Tigers; rotation all season, the reassurance of his arsenal provides a confidence boost that should help him relax wherever he hangs out before starting the second half in Oakland next Thursday.

“I'm not going to complain about the seven or however many days off I've got until I pitch again. Rest is always good,” he said. “I'm going to take my days early and continue to attack and build off of this last start, where I felt really good. It's a good place to go into, especially having the extra rest.”

Though Wednesday’s result at Kauffman Stadium was the same as his loss to the Royals 10 days earlier at Comerica Park, the pitches were drastically different. He had an average 92.9 mph fastball and 93.5 mph sinker that Sunday afternoon in Detroit, where he allowed five runs over 4 2/3 innings with a lone strikeout. On Wednesday, he averaged 95.4 and 95.9 with those pitches, respectively. In both cases, he averaged a higher velocity than his hardest pitches two starts earlier.

“He looked like he was just in control of everything,” Barnhart said. “His mechanics looked good to me. His direction looked good to me.”

Skubal garnered nearly twice as many swings and misses from Royals hitters on Wednesday (12) as he had in their previous meeting (seven), including four of his five strikeouts. His slider alone drew five whiffs on Wednesday. His sinker drew nine called strikes.

“I don't know,” Skubal said when asked what was behind the difference. “I just felt really good. Felt like everything was really synced up. I don't know, maybe the weather. It was hot, so my body was just kind of naturally loose. I just felt good.”

There’s a better explanation, of course. Skubal has always been a hard worker whose bullpen sessions have a purpose behind every throw. Even in that debacle two starts ago, Skubal said he felt like he was close, despite allowing 23 runs in as many innings over a five-start stretch that took him from All-Star consideration to a guy with time off over the All-Star break.

“If you were just looking at what was happening during the games, it wasn't like barrel, barrel, barrel, barrel,” Skubal said. “You can just kind of feel it as an athlete, as a competitor, that things are going to change a little bit.”

His average exit velocity of 83.8 mph on July 3 was actually better than his 89.7 mph average exit velocity Wednesday. But with so few swings and misses, there was more contact to measure. Skubal will never rest his fortunes on soft contact; he needs to miss bats. Wednesday showed why, even in defeat.

Skubal retired 10 of Kansas City’s first 11 batters Wednesday, including three strikeouts and only one ball out of the infield. His downfall was a four-run fourth inning that included three ground-ball singles, an error from defensive stalwart Jonathan Schoop on a ground ball and a sacrifice fly.

“We made a mess of the inning in the fourth,” Hinch said. “One error, but four miscues. Hard to win games when you do that.”

The velocity was no consolation to Hinch, but the pitcher behind it should be. As the Tigers head into the second half, Skubal is one of the few pitchers Hinch can count on to get through it. Rookie Beau Brieske is likely to need a break to watch his innings at some point. Michael Pineda could be a trade candidate this month. Drew Hutchison has been up and down. Matt Manning could be back later this month, but will understandably be watched closely after a lost first half.

Hinch and the Tigers need Skubal like this, now and for the long term.

“That's a start that I think you can build off of, for sure,” Barnhart said.