Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) walks off the field after pitching against Cleveland Guardians during the fifth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tigers Change Rotation Plan to Make Ace Tarik Skubal Available Twice

Originally posted on Detroit Tigers on SI
By Michael Brauner | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The Detroit Tigers are in the midst of a complete and utter collapse, suffering a second straight sweep and now losing nine of their last 10 headed into the final week of the season. To make matters worse, the Cleveland Guardians have been as spectacular as Detroit has been horrific, cutting the divisional lead to one as the Tigers prepare to return back to Cleveland.

Faltering further and surrendering the American League Central would give Detroit the distinct shame of owning the largest collapse in the history of baseball since the era of divisions began in 1969. On Sunday afternoon after another loss to the Atlanta Braves, they announced they are taking a major step towards avoiding that reality and missing the playoffs entirely.

Tigers Reconfigure Rotation to Move Tarik Skubal Up

According to the team's pitching plans for the week which were reported by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, Detroit is moving left-hander Tarik Skubal up to Tuesday where he will throw on four days rest in the opener against the Guardians after an off day Monday. This is significant for a couple of reasons, the first of which being a chance to stretch the lead to two games and take some pressure off on Tuesday.

The second reason the Tigers are moving Skubal up is if they are battling for their playoff lives next weekend on the road against the Boston Red Sox. Now, the soon-to-be repeat American League Cy Young winner is going to be able to pitch the season finale next Sunday against the Red Sox in what may be a must-win game.

Of course, the hope is that Skubal will not have to pitch on Sunday, but the foresight to have him available just in case could make all the difference on whether or not Detroit makes the playoffs at all.

Red Sox and Tigers Could Be Playing For Final Wild Card Spot

Depending on the way things shake out over the first half of the week, Detroit and Boston battling for the final playoff spot could very much be a reality at Fenway Park this weekend. After the Tigers went final. the Red Sox were one game clear of the Houston Astros and 1.5 games clear of Cleveland for that last spot.

Should the Guardians pass Detroit though, this would of course mean the Tigers are the ones trying to chase down Boston and Houston, and would potentially have to win the series next weekend in order to stay alive.

While this is of course a nightmare scenario given where they were at just a few weeks ago, Detroit would feel pretty strongly going into a do or die game with their best player on the mound.

This article first appeared on Detroit Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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