Should Tigers trade Tarik Skubal in 2025-26 offseason? Ex-GM breaks it down
Former MLB general manager Jim Duquette joins “Days of Roar” podcast to analyze if Detroit Tigers should consider trading ace Tarik Skubal this offseason.
The Detroit Tigers lost their sixth straight game, 6-1, to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, July 26.Tarik Skubal struck out seven in six scoreless innings but took a no-decision.Catcher Jake Rogers’ third-inning single was the only hit in the first eight innings for the Tigers.
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal unleashed one of his trademark roars after escaping the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning Saturday, July 26, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
He pumped his fist into his glove.
He backpedaled off the mound.
And he screamed an expletive.
Skubal energized the Tigers and the fans in Saturday’s game, but he couldn’t save them from their losing ways. The Tigers lost, 6-1, to the Blue Jays in the third of four games in the series at Comerica Park — their 12th loss in 13 games.
The Tigers (60-46) — losers of six games in a row — gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, when Bo Bichette hit a two-run single off right-handed reliever Will Vest. Meanwhile, the Tigers’ offense was limited to two hits and one walk.
In the eighth, the Blue Jays tallied three hits in their first four at-bats against Vest, including back-to-back singles from Joey Loperfido and George Springer.
A wild pitch by Vest put two runners in scoring position.
Although Vest got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground out, Bichette delivered the biggest hit of the game — pushing Vest’s middle-in sinker the opposite way through a pulled-in infield for a ground-ball single into right field, scoring both runner for a 2-0 lead.
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The Blue Jays didn’t need to score more than one run, but they took the lead by scoring two runs in the eighth inning, then racked up four more runs in the ninth.
To make it a 6-0 lead, Nathan Lukes hit a two-run home run, George Springer hit a solo home run and Guerrero hit a solo home run — all off right-handed reliever Chase Lee, whose ERA has climbed from 2.05 to 4.21 in his past six relief appearances.
The Blue Jays finished with 12 hits.
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Tarik Skubal and Matt Vierling
The Blue Jays had seven baserunners across the fourth, fifth and sixth innings against Skubal.
None of them scored.
In the sixth, Skubal escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam, but not without help from center fielder Matt Vierling. He threw out Springer, who didn’t slide, on a throw to catcher Jake Rogers for the second out. For the third out, Skubal struck out Addison Barger with a 100.5 mph sinker.
Skubal celebrated the clutch strikeout by screaming, backpedaling and swearing.
It ended his night.
The 28-year-old tossed six scoreless innings on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts, throwing 96 pitches. He entered the sixth at 61 pitches, but a 35-pitch inning — including a 13-pitch walk to Bichette — kept him from returning for the seventh.
Skubal owns a 2.09 ERA in 21 starts.
Kevin Gausman shoves
Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman dominated.
He completed six scoreless innings on one hit and one walk with 10 strikeouts, throwing 96 pitches.
The three baserunners: Rogers hit a single in the third inning, Colt Keith drew a walk in the fourth inning, and Gleyber Torres reached safely on a fielding error in the sixth inning.
Riley Greene finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but the Tigers scored their only run on his rollover groundout in the ninth inning after Rogers singled and moved up two bases on defensive indifference.
In his past 19 games, Greene is hitting .167 (12-for-72) with four home runs, four walks and 35 strikeouts — dating back to Game 2 of the July 2 doubleheader against the Washington Nationals.
Greene leads MLB with 141 strikeouts in 103 games.
He is on pace for 216 strikeouts in 2025, which would be the most in Tigers history for a single season — ahead of Cecil Fielder‘s 182 strikeouts in 1990.
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