Tigers' Tarik Skubal Announces News Before Yankees Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gavin Groe | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 6:52 PM ET

The Detroit Tigers (82–62) are bracing for back-to-back trips to the postseason with Tarik Skubal remaining the most important piece of the organization.

While manager A.J. Hinch has pulled all the right strings for Detroit, leading to an 8.5-game AL Central lead, it’s hard to imagine the Tigers being 20 games over .500 without Skubal’s efforts.

The 28-year-old left-hander has followed up his brilliant 2024 season—which saw him take home his first All-Star appearance, Cy Young Award and an ERA title—with yet another dominant campaign.

Over 28 starts, Skubal has posted an AL-leading 2.10 ERA, a 13–4 record and 222 strikeouts in just 180 innings pitched. He is also the current frontrunner to win AL Cy Young, which, if he does win it, would mark the first time since Jacob deGrom (2018–2019) that a pitcher has won a Cy Young award in back-to-back seasons.

Ahead of the Tigers’ upcoming series against the rejuvenated New York Yankees, Skubal spoke to reporters pregame on Tuesday.

The Tigers ace announced that he would not be pitching during the series for Detroit despite it being such a crucial matchup against a team fresh off an AL pennant in 2024 and his last start coming Saturday against the Chicago White Sox.

“Tarik Skubal will not pitch against the Yankees this series, he said,” wrote Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports.

Tarik Skubal will not pitch against the Yankees this series, he said.
— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) September 9, 2025

Tigers Taking Cautious Approach With Tarik Skubal as MLB Playoffs Near

While this may be slightly disappointing for Tigers fans, it’s a development that’s been in the works for the last month, with Detroit consistently giving Skubal five days of rest between starts rather than four.

With the division locked up barring a total collapse, and sitting comfortably in the second seed in the American League, Hinch is likely taking a more cautious approach in 2025 with Skubal’s usage.

During last year’s miraculous run to the postseason, Skubal routinely pitched every fifth day as the Tigers’ playoff hopes depended on it, and it may have played a role in his collapse against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of the ALDS that ended Detroit’s season.

Now that Detroit’s in a much more comfortable position in September, Skubal can routinely take extra rest heading into October, and the Tigers may potentially make a deeper postseason run.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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