Tarik Skubal was born in Hayward, California on November 20, 1996. He played his high school baseball at Kingman Academy High School in Kingman, AZ. He was not ranked in 2014 by Perfect Game. In high school at the plate, he hit .420 with a 1.218 OPS; he had 13 doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 58 RBI, 51 runs scored, 13 stolen bases, and 21 walks. On the mound he made 23 appearances going 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP, and 178 strikeouts in 101.2 innings. He would go on to attend Seattle University
Tarik Skubal – Seattle Redhawks
Skubal, in 2014 played summer ball for Kitsap in the West Coast League making four appearances with one coming as a start going 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, a 7.9 BB/9, and an 11.3 K/9 in eight innings. He would spend three seasons at Seattle, in his first season he made 17 appearances with 14 coming as starts he went 7-4 with a 3.24 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, a 2.9 BB/9, and a 7.3 K/9 in 83.1 innings. In his second season, he made eight starts going 6-1 with a 2.11 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, a 3.6 BB/9, and a 10.5 K/9 in 42.2 innings. In his final season, he made 19 appearances with 16 of those coming as starts going 8-2 with a 4.16 ERA, a 1.53 WHIP, a 6.3 BB/9, and an 11.9 K/9 in 80 innings.
When Was Tarik Skubal Drafted?
Skubal was drafted in the 29th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks but returned to Seattle hoping to improve his draft slot. In 2018 he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the ninth round.
Tarik Skubal – Detroit Tigers
2018
Skubal made his debut across three levels for the Tigers after being drafted. He combined to make nine appearances with one of those coming as a start, he went 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, a 1.6 BB/9, and a 13.3 K/9 in 22.1 innings. With the Tigers rookie league team, he made two appearances with that one start going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a 3.0 BB/9, and a 15.0 K/9 in three innings. At Low-A Connecticut he made four appearances, but he didn’t record a decision posting a 0.75 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, a 1.5 BB/9, and a 12.8 K/9. At Single-A West Michigan he made three appearances going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP, a 1.2 BB/9, and a 13.5 K/9 in 7.1 innings.
2019
Skubal pitched at High-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie combing to making 24 starts going 6-8 with a 2.42 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a 2.7 BB/9, and a 13.1 K/9 in 122.2 innings. At Erie he made nine starts going 2-3 with a 2.13 ERA, a 1.02 WHP, a 3.8 BB/9, and a 17.4 K/9 in 42.1 innings. At Lakeland he made 15 starts going 4-5 with a 2.58 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a 2.1 BB/9, and a 10.9 K/9 in 80.1 innings.
2020
Skubal entered the season as the 34th-ranked prospect overall by Baseball American and the 46th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. He made his big-league debut making eight appearances with seven of them coming as starts going 1-4 with a 5.63 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, a 3.1 BB/9, and a 10.4 K/9 in 32 innings.
2021
In his second season with the Tigers, he entered the season ranked the 20th overall prospect by Baseball America and the 24th overall prospect by MLB Pipeline. He made 31 starts with 29 of those coming as starts going 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, a 2.8 BB/9, and a 9.9 K/9 in 149.1 innings.
2022
Skubal in his third season in Detroit made 21 starts before suffering an injury to end his season. He went 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP, a 2.4 BB/9, and an 8.9 K/9 in 117.2 innings.
2023
Skubal coming back from his injury rehabbed at High-A West Michigan and Triple-A Toledo making five starts, he didn’t factor in any decisions posting a 1.23 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP, a 1.8 BB/9, and a 12.3 K/9 in 14.2 innings. When he returned to Detroit, he made 15 starts going 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP, a 1.6 BB/9, and an 11.4 K/9 in 80.1 innings.
Now
Skubal entered the season with a lot of hype and many expecting him to be in the Cy Young conversation, he’s done just that making 18 starts going 10-3 with a 2.37 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, a 1.6 BB/9, and a 10.8 K/9 in 110 innings. He was named to his first career All-Star team in 2024.
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