Detroit — Tarik Skubal threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since he underwent flexor tendon surgery in August.
Just like riding a bike?
“You’d think,” he said, laughing. “I feel like I fell off a little bit, scraped my elbows and knees.”
He was joking, as his beaming smile conveyed. Skubal threw 15 pitches, all fastballs, and reported no issues during, immediately after or on Sunday morning.
“It’s weird but I was actually a little bit nervous, for whatever reason,” he said. “Nerves are good thing, though. But I felt really good. I got down the mound really well and the ball came out well. I am pleased with it and I feel great today and that’s the most important thing.”
Skubal threw his last big-league pitch on Aug. 1. The Tigers are not putting any timetable on his return to competition. For now, all they will reveal is that he will throw off the mound again next week.
“Getting him back on the mound fairly regularly is the goal,” manager AJ Hinch said. “But always keeping in mind the schedule can always change. But it was a good step just getting him back to being a pitcher…It was a good step but we try not to get too far ahead of ourselves and start thinking about anything other than when his next throw day is.
“We have to stay disciplined to the process of getting him back healthy.”
Skubal, 26, was on the verge of establishing himself as a front-of-the-rotation starter for the Tigers last year when he started feeling discomfort in his left arm. He made 21 starts and posted a 3.52 ERA, holding hitters to a .237 batting average with a 24.4% strikeout rate.
He’d set the Tigers’ rookie record for strikeouts in 2021 (164).
“Tarik was great yesterday,” Hinch said. “He’s been doing long toss for a while (six days a week), so the natural progression was to put him on a mound. Everything was great. The most important part was coming back today and feeling good.”
Skubal and fellow rotation mates Casey Mize (Tommy John surgery) and Matt Manning (broken bone in his foot), all on the 60-day injured list, have been doing their rehab work with the team in Detroit, utilizing the new training staff and facilities at Comerica Park.
In the past, long-term rehabs were done at TigerTown in Lakeland.
“They’re a huge part of us,” Hinch said. “They are strong contributors in the clubhouse. Being around the competitive side of the sport when they can’t actually compete is big. But their demeanor, their influence, their impact, their personalities — the mix we have in the clubhouse right now is exceptionally good and they’re a big part of that.
“Even though they aren’t participating on the field, they are a very big part of our present and future.”
Skubal and catcher Jake Rogers were embroiled in a spirited game of pingpong in the Tigers’ clubhouse Sunday morning. Skubal’s fiery competitiveness has not abated during his rehab. But it’s clear being able to rehab with his teammates, as opposed to the relative isolation of Lakeland, is a helpful tonic, mentally.
“Just being able to throw in front of the coaching staff yesterday,” Skubal said. “And a lot of the guys came out to watch and support me, which I thought was really, really cool. You don’t get that everywhere. I mean, 15 pitches isn’t a big deal but they made it feel like it was a big deal to them.
“It’s just nice to have that support.”
The best version
Zach McKinstry has been on three teams in nine months. Traded from the Dodgers to the Cubs last July 30, traded from the Cubs to the Tigers (for minor league pitcher Carlos Guzman) on March 27. More and more, though, it’s starting to look like he’s found a home here.
“He’s coming into his own,” Hinch said.
Seems like it. McKinstry, hitting at the top of the order, had hit safely in nine of his last 11 games before Sunday, slashing .387/.424/.710 in that stretch with six extra-base hits.
“We underestimate as an industry what changing teams does to a player,” Hinch said. “We look at the opportunity, we look at the numbers and how they fit in a specific role — that’s all easy. But you change teams, and Zach has changed for second time, that’s a huge adjustment in terms of just psychologically.
“Like, where he fits in and what does he need to do.”
What do you want me to be? That’s the question players want to know when they’re acquired by a new team. What kind of player are you looking for me to be?
“We want you to be the best version of Zach McKinstry,” Hinch said. “If it’s a guy who is high on-base (percentage), if it’s a guy who is high-hit, power, a guy who moves around the field — whatever the best version is. And then we have to put him a position for that.
“Once the player can mentally settle down and calm himself down, you see the true player come out and start to perform. That’s what we’re seeing with him right now.”
Sticking around
Zack Short had already hit one home run Saturday. That came in the eighth inning of Game 1. In the nightcap, he’d walked and scored as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and then launched a ball 395 feet to center field that was caught in the seventh.
“It felt good coming off the bat,” he said. “But I caught it more out front than I intended. The running joke in the dugout was, yeah, they moved the fences in, but not that much (laughing).”
Short, who will turn 28 in May, is in his third stint with the Tigers. He was called up as the 27th man for the doubleheader but was summoned into Hinch’s office after the game and told he’d be sticking around.
“We had a really good conversation,” Short said. “Whether I was going down or not, I would’ve understood. It was one game, two games. I would’ve been fine. I would have headed back down to Toledo and waited for my next opportunity.
“But the vote of confidence he gave me, that’s going to stay with me.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky