The Los Angeles Dodgers made what was arguably the biggest splash ahead of the MLB trade deadline when they acquired Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for three prospects.
Skubal is coming off a historic two-year run with the Tigers that saw him win back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards. From 2024-25, he posted a 31-10 record with a 2.30 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 10.9 strikeouts per nine in 387.1 innings pitched (62 starts).
Skubal is one of the toughest pitchers to face in baseball, and several Dodgers are relieved they will no longer have to hit against him.
“I’m glad he’s on our side now,” Freddie Freeman said during a “Sunday Night Baseball” interview on NBC. “Whenever you see the Tigers on the schedule, you kind of circle it and it’s like, ‘Are we going to draw Tarik or are we not going to draw him?’
“But you know, it’s fun to be part of an organization that goes out there and tries to win every single year. We have a great farm system, draft well, we develop well; teams want our guys. Credit to our front office to go out there and go get those star players to hopefully win a championship again.”
Skubal now joins a Dodgers rotation that is currently led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but should add Blake Snell back to the fold in the near future, and eventually Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.
“I’m excited to be here, and I’m excited to compete with these guys. When you watch them from across the way or just see them do their thing on TV, you just have a lot of respect because they play the game the right way,” Skubal said.
“The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships, and that’s my entire focus. So we’re very much aligned. I’m ready to go out there and compete, and give this organization and city everything that I’ve got.”
Tarik Skubal’s first Dodgers start
Skubal made his Dodgers debut on Tuesday, and though he took a tough-luck loss against the Chicago Cubs, he still turned in an excellent start. The left-hander gave the Dodgers six innings of two-run ball, allowing just four hits while striking out six and walking two.
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