The Los Angeles Dodgers landed the biggest name available ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline in two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
The Dodgers initially downplayed a need to make a splash but always take an opportunistic approach and jumped at the chance to add one of the best pitchers in baseball to their injury-plagued starting rotation.
“They were fired up obviously,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said of players’ reactions to the Skubal trade. “Again, this starts in the offseason, gets into Spring Training, all the work that goes into it, I’ve talked about this a lot.
“When you walk through this clubhouse before a game, every guy is doing something to help us win a game that night. That level of commitment, I think, is rare. I think it’s unusual. For us, it’s about supporting that and backing that up as much as we can.
“So I think they were fired up. We’re appreciative of everything they do. I will say, obviously, watching playoff baseball outside of when the Dodgers play is fun for me. You don’t have a rooting interest, you can sit back and enjoy the theater of October baseball. Watching Tarik Skubal pitch in the playoffs last year was must-see TV. I was in awe watching the energy, the dominance he exhibited there, and I can’t wait to see it in Dodger Blue.”
Skubal arrived at Dodger Stadium on Sunday as the Dodgers were facing the Boston Red Sox and began acclimating to his new teammates. The left-hander previously shared some of the mixed emotions he was feeling with leaving his longtime Tigers team and joining a new organization trying to win its third consecutive World Series.
Skubal should give the Dodgers an embarrassment of riches when it comes time to construct their postseason rotation. The group should also include 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, along with two of Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow if they are able to return from their respective injuries.
The fact that Skubal and Ohtani will share the field is a rare feat in itself. According to OptaSTATS, it’s the first time players who won the Cy Young Award and MVP in the previous two seasons have played together on the same team.
When is Tarik Skubal making Dodgers debut?
Skubal is scheduled to make his first Dodgers start in the middle game of a series against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. The outing is also going to mark the first time he will pitch at Wrigley Field.
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