Tarik Skubal

Skubal was born in Hayward, California, to parents Russ and Laura Skubal. His father worked as an elementary school teacher and sports coach. Skubal grew up with three brothers and a stepbrother, and his family later relocated to Kingman, Arizona, where he attended the Kingman Academy of Learning.

He enrolled at Seattle University to pitch for the Seattle Redhawks, the only NCAA Division I program that offered him a scholarship. After earning Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors in 2015, he underwent Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him for most of the 2016 season and the entirety of 2017. Although the Arizona Diamondbacks selected him in the 29th round of the 2017 MLB draft, Skubal declined to sign and returned to Seattle University, where he concluded his collegiate career with school records in wins (21), strikeouts (224), and lowest opponent batting average (.221).

The Detroit Tigers selected Skubal in the ninth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft with the 255th overall pick. He advanced through Detroit's minor league system, earning a promotion to Double-A Erie in 2019 after posting 179 strikeouts across 122 and two-thirds innings. He made his major league debut on August 18, 2020, against the Chicago White Sox and earned his first MLB victory on August 29 against the Minnesota Twins.

In 2021, manager A. J. Hinch placed Skubal in the Tigers' Opening Day starting rotation. Skubal established a Tigers single-season rookie record by striking out 164 batters and became the fastest pitcher in club history to record 200 career strikeouts. His momentum was interrupted in August 2022 when he underwent flexor tendon surgery on his pitching arm, sidelining him until July 2023. Upon his return, Skubal posted a 7-3 record with a 2.80 ERA across 15 starts, finishing the campaign by winning the American League Pitcher of the Month award for September.

Skubal achieved a historic season in 2024, winning the American League Pitching Triple Crown after leading the league with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA, and 228 strikeouts. He became the first Tigers pitcher to capture the Triple Crown since Justin Verlander in 2011. Skubal earned his first All-Star selection and was named the unanimous winner of the 2024 AL Cy Young Award, receiving all 30 first-place votes.

In 2025, Skubal captured his second consecutive AL Cy Young Award, going 13-6 with a league-best 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts. On May 25, 2025, he threw a complete-game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on just 94 pitches, recording 13 strikeouts without issuing a walk to toss a "Maddux." In the 2025 postseason, he tied Detroit's single-game playoff record with 14 strikeouts in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series and set a Major League postseason record by striking out seven consecutive batters in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners.

The decision surpassed the previous all-time MLB arbitration record of $31 million set by Juan Soto in 2024. Skubal made his third consecutive Opening Day start for Detroit in March 2026 and later notched his 1,000th career strikeout in 857 innings, reaching the milestone faster than any pitcher in Tigers history.

On August 2, 2026, Detroit traded Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith. Earlier that spring, Skubal also represented the United States national baseball team in pool play at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Skubal is a left-handed pitcher featuring a fastball that regularly sits at 96 mph and has reached up to 102.7 mph. His repertoire combines four-seam and two-seam fastballs with an 88 mph slider and an occasional high-velocity "turbo slider."

His primary off-speed pitch is a changeup averaging 86 mph, engineered with an elite seam-shifted wake that creates unpredictable late movement. The pitch generated a major-league-best run value and ranked among the most difficult pitches to hit in baseball, generating exceptionally high chase and whiff rates.