'Development process' continuing for Skubal
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The education of Tarik Skubal continues, and Thursday provided another tough-but-valuable lesson.
On Thursday night, the Tigers left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits in four innings in an 8-4 loss to the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum. He struck out five and walked four in an 88-pitch outing.
Skubal pitched himself out of bases-loaded jams. But then again, he pitched himself into them. He pitched and pitched. He just didn't execute.
The 24-year-old Skubal’s potential comes with growing pains, which is common for young pitchers. It didn't help that the pitchers who followed also failed to execute their pitches, too, as Tigers hurlers walked a season-high 12 batters.
The Tigers still outhit the A’s, 9-8, but the sizzling Detroit offense -- which had just powered a sweep of the Astros in Houston -- was done in by its own pitching staff.
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“It just looked like [Skubal] was battling himself, and he had a lot of long at-bats,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He was pretty frustrated at the end. That’s a lot of pitches in a short amount of time.”
Skubal never really found his groove, and the A’s did their part to make him work. Stephen Piscotty tagged Skubal for a solo home run as part of a 37-pitch third inning for the southpaw. Skubal gave up another run on a sacrifice fly to Elvis Andrus in the fourth.
Still, Skubal focused on the positive aspects of the outing and recognized his mistakes. That’s what every team wants from its young pitchers.
“I feel like, at times, I was able to limit damage -- two bases-loaded [situations] -- and to keep us in the ballgame like that feels good,” Skubal said. “But as far as the total outing goes, that’s not what I expected of myself and not what I wanted to do, but that’s part of it.”
The “it” in this case is Skubal’s development, and despite the slow -- and abbreviated -- starts, there’s a lot to like. The live-armed Skubal featured an impressive 95 mph fastball, but perhaps he showed it too many times. Of the 88 pitches he threw, 46 were four-seamers. The A’s only swung and missed at his fastball three times.
Skubal threw his slider half as many times as his fastball and added 12 splitters. It could be a sign of things to come. Skubal threw 11 splitters against the Indians last Saturday and five against Cleveland in his first start of the season on April 4.
“The pitch mix is really never a problem,” Hinch said. “It's been the execution and efficiency of attacking and getting into leverage counts. It’s a development process for him. He’s got to continue to take steps forward. He’s going to have nights like this.”
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That mix wasn’t good enough to keep Skubal in the game, and he was replaced by Buck Farmer to start the fifth. Skubal also pitched four innings in his previous outing. He’s walked nine and struck out 12 in 13 1/3 innings this season.
“It’s not good for me, it’s not good for anybody and it’s not good for our bullpen,” Skubal said. “I’m putting guys in tough spots, and being a starting pitcher, you have to understand that and you have to set the tone. ... I’ll take responsibility for that, and not going deeper into games and putting guys in tough spots.”