Tarik Skubal Reveals Receiving Surprise Phone Call from Yankees’ Max Fried About Starting 2025 All-Star Game

A day later, the 28-year-old pitcher would receive a call from Aaron Boone. The Yankees manager is managing the AL team this year after winning the pennant with the team last season. On the phone call, Boone would reveal to Skubal that he was starting the game for the American League this time.

Skubal made his first All-Star appearance last year. He would pitch a scoreless second inning after Corbin Burnes started the game.

Tarik Skubal shows respect to Max Fried after getting starting nod for All-Star Game

While having another great season with the Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubal will now start the All-Star game for the American League team this year. After getting the nod from Max Fried, the 2024 Triple Crown winner showered respect on Fried.

It would have been a great welcome back for Fried to Atlanta after he left them in the past offseason. The pitcher penned down an 8-year, $218 million deal and ended his 8-year stay in Atlanta with the Braves.

However, he gave up this chance to Skubal and instead started the game on Sunday. His appearance against the Cubs made him ineligible to start the ASG. In the conversation with Evan Woodbery, Skubal nodded his head in respect to Fried and expressed that he had a “cool” conversation with him.

It was actually a really cool conversation. It’s a very professional thing to do, and I’ve got a ton of respect for guys that do stuff like that.

Both pitchers have been in stunning form this year and are locked in for the AL Cy Young Award race this year. While Skubal has a 10-3 record with a 2.23 ERA in 19 starts, Fried has an 11-3 record with a 2.43 ERA in 20 starts for the Yankees.

Tarik Skubal to face Paul Skenes in All-Star Game

A matchup that many MLB fans had been waiting for will happen in the upcoming days. Tarik Skubal, the ace pitcher of the Detroit Tigers, will go up against Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes in the 2025 All-Star Game.

A few days ago, it was revealed that Skenes would once again be the starting pitcher for the National League team. He started the game as a rookie last year and gave up 1 walk. However, he did not surrender a run and left the mound to huge applause. This year, he will be hoping to have a similar performance as he goes up against Skubal.

Skenes will enter the All-Star Game this year with a negative record, though. Despite being dominant from the mound, his team has often failed to back him up with run support. He has a 4-8 record in 20 starts this year, while having a low ERA of 2.01 and 121 strikeouts.