Tigers Ace Is Deserving of Starting for American League in All-Star Game

With the best record in the American League, the Detroit Tigers are rolling at the midway point in the season.

It has been a fantastic first half of the year for the Tigers, who have the best record in the American League and have proven that they are a contender for the World Series.

In the last campaign, Detroit was able to come from out of nowhere in the second half of the season to not only make the playoffs but make some noise as well.

To begin this year, they have proven that they are a legitimate threat and a lot of that is because of some of the talent that they have been developing in recent campaigns.

More News: Tigers Emergency Starter Turns in Shockingly Dominant Performance Against Athletics

Now, as the wins keep coming, some of the individuals on the Tigers are starting to get the credit that they deserve.

Who Should Be an All-Star Starter?

Buster Olney of ESPN recently wrote about the upcoming decision that New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has to make regarding who will be the starting pitcher for the American League in the All-Star Game. He highlights Max Fried and Garrett Crochet as good choices, but that the ball should be going to Tarik Skubal.

“But the numbers for Detroit's Tarik Skubal are daunting: He leads the AL in fWAR at 3.8 and in expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) at 2.46 and is second in fewest walks per nine innings (1.15) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.03).”

There are several pitchers in the AL that are having great seasons so far, but Skubal is once again surging toward an AL Cy Young award.

More News: Three Detroit Tigers Remain in Contention to Start in MLB All-Star Game

Even though he won the Triple Crown in the AL last year, he has been able to arguably be even better in 2025. So far, he has totaled a 9-2 record, 2.29 ERA, and 125 strikeouts in 102 innings pitched.

With some of the underlying numbers being even better than they were last campaign, it could end up being a second straight AL Cy Young and Triple Crown for Skubal.

In terms of starting in the All-Star Game, that would be a great honor for the best pitcher in the league. Even though Boone has one of his guys in Fried also in the mix, it seems highly unlikely that it would be anyone but Skubal on the mound to begin the game barring him being unavailable.

More News: Tigers Slugging Duo Ranked Among Least Clutch Players in Baseball This Season

The Tigers are very fortunate to have arguably the best pitcher in the game right now, and making the most of his time with the team is going to be important going forward.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.