LAKELAND, Fla. -- The question was simple: Which one player has impressed the most in Tigers camp?

The answer among the Tigers veterans surveyed was almost universal.

“[Tarik] Skubal, hands down,” Alex Wilson said. “He’s one of the most impressive young guys I’ve seen in my career, especially a guy that kind of came out of nowhere.”

“Skubal,” Buck Farmer said. “He throws 98 [miles per hour] from the left side and it looks like he’s not trying to throw at all. It looks like he’s playing catch.”

“The dude’s 96-98 from the left side with a nasty hook,” Michael Fulmer said. “I was watching him warm up [Monday] in the bullpen, and his stuff just plays, wherever he’s at.”

Yes, it’s easy to stand out throwing 98 mph fastballs past Major League hitters. And yes, there was a lot of curiosity surrounding Tarik Skubal and the Tigers’ other highly regarded prospects heading into Spring Training. But what Skubal has done in his first big league camp has made an impression.

“Maybe I’m biased towards other lefties,” Matthew Boyd cautioned, “but it’s awesome watching a lefty go out there and attack guys with fastballs and still be able to pitch with a slider and a changeup and a curveball that he has as well. He’s a true four-pitch pitcher and it’s fun to watch him pitch.”

It’s not just about what he throws, but also how he works, and how he carries himself.

“I have a feeling you’re going to hear this answer from a lot of people: He just has that kind of wow factor,” Wilson said. “And he doesn’t even realize it, which is the beautiful part.”

“He seems very professional and down-to-earth,” catcher Grayson Greiner said. “He just comes in, gets his work done, doesn’t really say a whole lot. I like that and respect that, how he goes about his business.”

Of all the pitching prospects the Tigers brought to Spring Training, Skubal was the biggest mystery. Casey Mize and Alex Faedo had been in Major League camp previously as former first-round picks to get a taste of how Major League pitchers work and prepare. Matt Manning is in big league camp for the first time, but his starts in past years had drawn attention to the back fields at Tigertown.

Skubal was on those back fields last spring, too, but was barely a mention, even though he felt further recovered from the Tommy John surgery that dropped him to a ninth-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. After debuting in the Tigers system as a reliever to watch his innings in the summer of 2018, he spent last year’s camp stretching out to be a starter again.

“I was feeling good,” Skubal said. “I had a pretty good Spring Training as far as executing pitches and stuff like that, which led right into the season. …

“I would always watch the [big league] games and be like, 'Wow, these guys are good.' But I've always just kind of, next day, got to work. And if I work hard and I get a little bit better every day, the results will hopefully show.”

Boyd knew about Skubal heading into the Draft, having seen him at Seattle University and heard about him through a former coach. When Skubal wanted to polish his curveball over the offseason, he talked with Boyd about pitch design, having admired how Boyd reworked his slider.

“Just having someone who has shown success and they’re willing to help everybody, he’s huge,” Skubal said.

Still, Boyd doesn’t want to play favorites.

“I mean, every one of those young pitchers down there has been truly impressive,” Boyd said. “Really, the work ethic between all of them is impressive. I’ve seen Matt Manning make adjustments in the bullpen, which can be pretty tough to make, and he has made them instantaneously.

“Just being around Faedo and Manning, Mize, watching how they go about their bullpens, they’re not just throwing. I remember throwing as a younger guy and I’d just throw. The depth that they have behind their thought process is truly impressive. They think on a much more advanced level.”

They’re pitching at that level, too, especially Skubal.

“What he possesses, along with how humble he is, he can be scary good,” Wilson continued. “He’s just that one step ahead. He might force himself onto this team faster than anybody thought.”

Others who have impressed …

RHP Spencer Turnbull

“You’ve seen what he has done,” closer Joe Jimenez said. “I think he’s going to help us a lot this year.”

OF Riley Greene

“What he did early on, getting called over here for the first time and showing out and doing his thing, it’s always fun to see younger guys do that,” outfielder Christin Stewart said. “He’s going to be a good player.”