The Detroit Tigers are holding their breath on Tarik Skubal.
The reigning Cy Young winner and current Cy Young frontrunner exited Friday’s game in the fourth inning with tightness in his left side and needs further evaluation, the team announced. ESPN’s Jeff Passan later reported Skubal experienced discomfort near his left rib cage and will undergo imaging Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.
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Skubal could be seen grabbing at the left side of his body after his final pitch against the Miami Marlins, who scored four runs in the southpaw’s 3 1/3 innings of work.
Per The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen, Skubal indicated he was optimistic after the game:
“Some tightness. Certain things happen during the game where you feel some things and they come and go with the game. This was one that didn’t really go away, and that was what prompted me to call for [Tigers manager A.J. Hinch] and a trainer, obviously. Just wasn’t very comfortable letting it go after that. This time of year, what we’ve got going forward, I didn’t want to risk doing something that causes me to really miss some time.
“I mean, I’m obviously going to be optimistic. I understand that I took myself out of a game, and that’s the first time l’ve ever done that in my career. I understand that there’s some sort of concern, right? But at the same time, l’ve seen our trainers, done a lot of physical stuff and nothing really jumps out at me. So in that aspect I’m optimistic about it. Obviously we’ll get some more information and probably an image on it just to see what’s there, kind of calm the brain down”
A Skubal injury of any significance would obviously be bad for the Tigers, who hold a commanding lead in the AL Central at 84-64 but still have a wild-card bye to play for. The real fear will be an injury that affects his playoff availability, as the MLB postseason will begin in less than three weeks.
Skubal entered Friday as a -3000 favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award, with Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet the next-closest at +900. So long as Skubal stayed healthy the award was likely his, but now some uncertainty has been added to the mix.
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At 28 years old, Skubal has cemented his reputation as the top pitcher in the American League this season after winning his first Cy Young Award and a triple crown last season. He entered Friday leading the league in ERA (2.10), WHIP (0.856), strikeout rate (32.6%) and walk rate (4.1%) while ranking behind only Crochet in innings pitched (180) and strikeouts (222).
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