Tarik Skubal is American League starting pitcher for MLB All-Star Game
Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal and Yankees manager Aaron Boone talk to reporters July 14, 2025, at the All-Star Game Press Conference at Truist Park.
Detroit Tigers activated left-hander Tarik Skubal from the paternity list. He will start for the Tigers on Saturday, July 26, against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comerica Park.
But Skubal could leave at any moment.
His wife, Jessica, has not yet given birth to their second child.
“As long as the phone stays silent, I expect it to be business as usual,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Saturday’s game. “If we get a call, we’ll make him come out of the game or out of his warmups or out of wherever. I don’t even know if he’ll be here postgame, depending on how it goes.”
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The MLB paternity list allows players to miss up to three consecutive games.
For Skubal, those three games were: Wednesday, July 23, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Thursday, July 24, against the Blue Jays, and Friday, July 25, against the Blue Jays.
Skubal is no longer eligible to remain on the paternity list — and he can’t be placed back on it.
“The anticipation of it was the event,” Hinch said. “When she thought that things were starting to speed up, we made the decision that we did, and Tarik was fully on board. Now, we’ll just go day-by day. As a starting pitcher, it’s a lot easier from a roster standpoint to absorb that.”
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It’s expected that Skubal will return to be with his wife, Jessica, and their first child, Kasen, after starting Saturday’s game. He is lined up to start again Friday, Aug. 1, against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Kasen was born in October 2023.
“Their family is waiting in anticipating for an incredible event to add to their family,” Hinch said of the Skubal family. “The priority for him and his family is the health of Jessica and their newborn, whenever that is — whether it’s today or a few days from now.”
Skubal, 28, has a 2.19 ERA with 16 walks and 164 strikeouts across 127⅔ innings in 20 starts. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2024, and he remains the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award again in 2025.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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