Tarik Skubal’s Injury Is Another Mountain for the Tigers to Climb

The Detroit Tigers announced on Monday that Cy Young winner and ace Tarik Skubal would undergo surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow, landing him on the IL. The news comes only days after Casey Mize and Javier Baez hit the injury list.

Obviously, being without Skubal is a major blow. Not only has he won back-to-back Cy Young Awards, but he was cruising to the tune of a 2.70 ERA and 2.16 FIP across his first seven starts.

This is the type of injury news that can derail a season. Skubal is the ace and heartbeat of this team. He’s the type of pitcher that stops losing streaks, delivers in big moments, and propels your team to the odds-on favorite to win the AL Central.

In short, a bulldog you trust in any game no matter the magnitude.

Now, the Tigers must learn to go on without him. When will he be back? Who knows. Even when he does come back, will he look the same? These are questions we will not have answers to anytime soon.

Skubal is in the final year of team control and set to hit the open market, trending toward a record-breaking deal. Now, that is in jeopardy. It’s a situation that is nothing but bad for all parties involved, and the Tigers now have to scramble to fill the massive void.

What the Loss Means for the Tigers

Replacing Skubal is not possible. You don’t find that level of production within your organization, and few arms in the world can replicate what Skubal does — not only on the field, but off of it as well.

Skubal has been a leader on this team, especially over the past two plus seasons. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and you see it after a strikeout to end the inning is followed by a growl loud enough to be confused with a kindergarten class.

Players feed off of his energy and success but will now have to find a new motivator to take the lead.

Whoever grabs the ball in his place every fifth day is a major drop off from what he brings the team.

Although Skubal has dealt with injuries in the past, he was a workhorse for the Tigers over the past two seasons. Back-to-back years of 31 starts and at least 190 innings and sub-2.50 ERA production allowed the team to know they had the advantage very fifth game. That certainty no longer exist.

Sure, the Framber Valdez signing makes the news slightly easier to stomach, but fans will still go through some dry heaving. Currently, the Tigers have six starters on the injury list with Skubal joining Jackson Jobe, Troy Melton, Mize, Reese Olson, and Justin Verlander.

In the minors starters Jake Miller, Jaden Hamm, Joseph Montalvo, and Andrew Sears are also on the shelf with injury. Sawyer Gipson-Long has been on and off injured for the past few seasons.

That list is only the upper minors. Detroit has had nothing but bad injury luck for the past two seasons from drafted arms all the way to the majors and each stop in between. Part due to the nature of pitching in this day and age, but one has to wonder if something else is contributing to this amount of injuries. But that’s a different story for a different day.

Now, Detroit has no other option than to push forward. No matter how many injuries they rack up, tomorrows game will still be played. We have seen the injuries force the Tigers into what they call “Pitching Chaos” (bullpen games) for three straight seasons.

It’s a strategy that led them to the playoffs in 2024 but was not as successful in 2025. The organization said themselves that it is not a sustainable plan over a 162-game schedule, and considering we are only one month into the season I doubt it is much of an option going forward.

So, what do the Tigers do?

How to Replace the Skubal Innings

Your immediate thought is likely trading a combination of prospects and bringing in another high-level arm to keep World Series hopes alive. Well, the bad news is those types of moves do not happen very often in the beginning of May. With so many teams floating around .500, the deadline could be relatively quiet either way.

For now, impact trades are not part of the equation. Not until late June or more likely late July. The band-aid will start with the promotion of former first-round pick Ty Madden, who has a total of 23 big-league innings.

Madden has made five starts and pitched in 21 innings in Triple-A, posting a 4.71 ERA and 5.07 FIP. Personally, I have not been high on Madden and think his control holds him back, and his fastball has not progressed enough to make up for his deficiencies elsewhere. He’s a fine depth arm, but I would not stop looking for other avenues.

Drew Anderson was signed this offseason and placed in the bullpen, where he has been pitching well as of late. Anderson made 30 starts in the KBO last season, making him a likely candidate to stretch out and fill some innings out of the rotation.

Melton, who has not pitched this season due to injury, recently started a rehab assignment and could join the Tigers sooner rather than later. He will likely be on an innings restriction not only because of injury, but a planned buildup like we see with most young arms.

You could go the route of signing a street free agent, but Frankie Montas, Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman, or similar pitchers do not exuded much excitement.

A more unique path — which I think isn’t likely but could work — is moving Brant Hurter into the rotation.

Huerter was a starter in the minors and has been an effective arm for the Tigers, often going more than one inning. We have seen him go two or three innings in the past, and he could be a fine five-and-dive option to patch work until the team comes back from injury.

If the Tigers do dip into their minor-league system, you are looking at Bryan Sammons, Dylan File, Troy Watson, Carlos Pena, and Lael Lockhart as options. All have very limited ceilings and are considered more organizational depth than legit major-league options, but the Tigers might be desperate enough.

Final Thoughts

No matter how you spin it, the Tigers are in trouble.

Is their season over? Of course not. But there hopes of a World Series are definitely changing.

Counting on injured arms to return and be exactly what you saw, or expected, prior to injury is always a risky game. The injury problems in this organization are serious and often.

If you want to have any silver lining, it could be the amount of time the Tigers have to figure this out. The injury did not happen post trade deadline, and you have a runway for tryouts before making a move to bring reinforcements into the equation.

I know, I know — I’m grasping for straws. But, unfortunately, that is the world the Tigers currently live in.