Amidst trade rumors, Skubal continues to strengthen Cy Young case

CLEVELAND -- Those weren’t baseball’s trade winds blowing around Tarik Skubal. It was the lingering breeze of Jake Rogers' mad dash around the bases.

No one knows for sure what will happen with the Tigers’ ace left-hander. Even if president of baseball operations Scott Harris is simply listening to interest at this point, a week ahead of baseball’s Trade Deadline, it’s entirely possible a team with a deep farm system will overwhelm him with an offer that, arguably, makes Detroit markedly better next year and beyond in exchange for a Cy Young-quality season this year, presenting Harris with a predicament.

“I don’t really know if we have any say in what [the front office is] doing,” Skubal said. “So we’re just going to focus on winning today’s game and tomorrow’s game. But that’s all I’ve really got to say about that.”

Skubal has no control over the situation. He doesn’t have no-trade rights, unlike Eduardo Rodriguez last year. All Skubal can do is pitch and enjoy being a Tiger. Skubal enjoyed his 21st and final out of Monday’s 8-2 Tigers win over the Guardians, yelling into the void as Gio Urshela fielded Josh Naylor’s grounder and stepped on first base.

“I wanted to finish that inning on my own terms,” Skubal said.

He surely enjoyed watching Rogers, his catcher for all 20 starts this year, wheeling around the bases with a Little League home run in the second inning.

“I told the trainers, ‘He needs an oxygen mask,'” Skubal joked. “He went into the tunnel and I had the fan on him. I’m like, ‘Brother, you’ve gotta breathe.’”

Monday wasn’t a masterpiece by Skubal’s standards. His only 1-2-3 inning was the first, and he allowed 10 hits over seven innings. Yet his lone run allowed came on a bases-loaded bunt single by catcher Austin Hedges.

No Tiger had allowed double-digit hits with one run or less in an outing since Nate Robertson against the Cardinals on June 26, 2008.

It was a profile in damage control, helped by six timely strikeouts. Skubal stranded two runners in the fourth inning with a strikeout of Steven Kwan, and he reared back for a 98 mph fastball to fan José Ramírez after an Angel Martínez leadoff double in the fifth. He held Kwan hitless, including a popout on a 2-0 pitch to strand the bases loaded after Hedges’ bunt in a 28-pitch second inning.

“It felt like I gained a little bit of momentum from that inning on, just holding them to one,” said Skubal, who lowered his ERA to an AL-best 2.34. “It felt like every inning I was out of the stretch, but those are when the most important pitches made. It was a good game tonight. I enjoyed it.”

Skubal's outing was exactly what the Tigers needed to begin a four-game series against the AL Central leaders that will include two bullpen starts amidst Detroit’s injury-depleted rotation. Then again, it’s exactly what a lot of contending teams can use heading into October.

Skubal protected a lead from his first pitch thanks to Justyn-Henry Malloy’s two-run home run in the opening inning. But the highlight was Rogers’ second-inning RBI triple, a sinking line drive that bounced past Martínez in center and sent Rogers to the races.

Third-base coach Joey Cora frantically waved Rogers home once Martínez slipped trying to pick up the ball, and Rogers beat a close play by sprawling out to touch the plate ahead of Hedges’ tag. It was ruled a triple and Martínez error, but Rogers got to hoist the home-run pizza spear anyway.

“After third, I was giving it all I had. I was scampering, as the boys like to call me running,” Rogers said. “I tried to get out of the way as much as I could but, yeah, I was tired.”

Skubal (11-3) rolled from there with his fifth consecutive quality start. He’s currently slated for one more start before next Tuesday’s Trade Deadline, with another division clash against the Twins next Saturday at Comerica Park.

Harris would not be the first Tigers executive presented with trade interest in Skubal. His predecessor, Al Avila, had inquiries two years ago. Nothing came close, and Avila ended up leaving after the Deadline rather than Skubal, who left his start on Trade Deadline day with a forearm injury leading to flexor tendon surgery.

Skubal wasn’t a Cy Young contender then, but the Tigers also weren’t playing this well. Detroit has won nine of 12, has an MLB-best 12-5 record in July, and could move to .500 if it can turn a bullpen start into a win Tuesday.

“It speaks to the guys in this clubhouse,” Skubal said. “A lot of the guys are bought in on winning every single day.”

Everybody has bought into winning on Skubal Day, however many are left.