The Los Angeles Dodgers were swept by the Boston Red Sox to finish their homestand, and though that was a disappointing result, there was plenty of reason for celebration within the organization.
In a trade that was agreed to on Saturday night and made official the next morning, the Dodgers acquired Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for River Ryan, Zyhir Hope and Brady Smith.
Dodgers set date for Tarik Skubal’s first start
While speaking with members of the media before the series finale against the Red Sox, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman announced Skubal is set to make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday.
Skubal’s first start for the Dodgers is going to come in the middle game of a series against the Chicago Cubs. The outing is also going to mark the first time the left-hander has ever pitched at Wrigley Field.
Skubal went 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA, 2.60 FIP and 0.92 WHIP across 16 starts for the Tigers this season. He missed five and a half weeks because of surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, but Skubal’s return was accelerated due to Dr. Neal ElAttrache utilizing the NanoScope 2.0 for a less invasive procedure.
The 29-year-old arrived at Dodger Stadium during Sunday’s game and began the process of becoming acclimated with his new teammates.
“It looks real weird, but I think everybody around here will get used to it pretty fast,” Clayton Kershaw said on the NBC broadcast when asked for his perspective of seeing Skubal in the Dodgers dugout.
Skubal shared some of the mixed emotions he was feeling late Saturday night in his final interview as a member of the Tigers. That was to be expected considering the Tigers are the organization that drafted Skubal in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
For their part, the Dodgers locked in on Skubal and viewed him as their focus for the 2026 trade deadline.
“Obviously you can feel the energy, the excitement, the buzz,” manager Dave Roberts said. “This was a different year in the sense that it was Skubal or nothing, essentially. We have a lot of good players, a lot of good depth already.
“In typical years there’s a lot of speculation and guys wondering where they’re going to land or what’s going to happen, but I think this year, even with this addition we obviously got a whole lot better, but guys are going to be the guys, the roles are the roles. We’re just thrilled.”
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