One night after A.J. Hinch gave Casey Mize a chance to finish a complete-game loss to further his development, the Tigers’ manager had to pull the plug on Tarik Skubal‘s outing for similar reasons.
It’s a flip from Spring Training, when Skubal dominated the Grapefruit League while Mize struggled through long innings before earning a rotation spot at the end. And as Hinch surveyed a vast expanse of concerns from Friday’s 10-0 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, Skubal has to be near the top of a long list.
What was already a rough matchup for Skubal going in against a righty-heavy Yankees lineup quickly compounded on him. Skubal, making his first start since April 15 after working as a piggyback reliever for two outings, showed many of the same issues that hampered him in his previous starts — from high pitch counts to inconsistent command to heavy use of his splitter early. All were exploited by a Yankees lineup that has had its own issues with consistency this season but can still punish mistakes.
Skubal yielded three home runs in as many innings, including a 436-foot drive to center from Aaron Judge and a 420-foot drive to left by Aaron Hicks — both in the third inning. His trouble started in the first inning on a Giancarlo Stanton double with a 115.7 mph exit velocity, setting Stanton up to score on a Gio Urshela single. The inning would’ve been worse had Gleyber Torres’ ensuing 404-foot drive cleared the center-field fence, instead dying at the track.
Add in Clint Frazier’s second-inning solo homer, a line drive to left with a 106.7 mph exit velocity, and Skubal finished with an average exit velocity of 100.4 mph off his fastball, a pitch that was averaging an 88.5 mph exit velocity this season.