{"id":700040,"date":"2026-05-16T00:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/700040\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:54:18","slug":"tarik-skubals-recovery-progress-gives-tigers-huge-reason-for-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/700040\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarik Skubal’s Recovery Progress Gives Tigers Huge Reason for Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Tigers could use some good news. The last couple of weeks have not been kind<\/a>, as the Tigers have lost eight of their last nine games. Whether it’s offensive inconsistencies, suspensions involving Framber Valdez<\/a> and manager AJ Hinch, or the long list of injuries, Detroit is in a difficult spot right now.<\/p>\n

The Tigers’ pitching staff is short-handed, as starting pitchers Casey Mize<\/a> and Justin Verlander<\/a> remains on the injured list. Most importantly, they’re missing ace pitcher Tarik Skubal. On May 6th, Skubal underwent surgery to remove a loose body from his throwing elbow.<\/p>\n

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Initially, many assumed Skubal would need a lengthy recovery, but that may not be the case after the latest news.<\/p>\n

Skubal is Making Significant Injury Progress\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the dugout. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post<\/a>, Skubal is already playing catch. Heyman noted that the surgery to remove one loose body was arthroscopic, and he might beat initial estimates of a two-month recovery. Reportedly, six weeks remains possible.<\/p>\n

A six-week recovery would be an incredible achievement, but Skubal playing catch is a good sign. Obviously, he’ll need to ramp up to a bullpen and a potential rehab assignment, but he’s already taking the first steps just a week after needing surgery.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Neal ElAttrache<\/a> performed the surgery on Skubal and utilized a device called The NanoNeedle Scope 2.0, which was a less invasive procedure and could accelerate his recovery. Dr. ElAttrache revealed that Skubal is the first high-profile athlete to use it during surgery.<\/p>\n

Skubal’s Eventual Return Could Rejuvenate Tigers\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal walks off the field. | Junfu Han \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Detroit desperately needs its ace back in the fold. Since being placed on the injured list, the Tigers have won one game. Before the injury, Skubal made seven starts with a 2.70 ERA with a team-leading 45 strikeouts. He’s not just the backbone of this pitching staff, but the entire team.<\/p>\n

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In Skubal’s absence, Framber Valdez<\/a> has to emerge as the team’s top pitcher. After returning from his suspension, he pitched 6 2\/3 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, and seven strikeouts. Jack Flaherty<\/a> and Keider Montero<\/a> have been the other options, but Flaherty has run into trouble this year with a 5.73 ERA.<\/p>\n

Getting Skubal back in the rotation adds a layer of confidence that this Tigers team needs. It’s not a coincidence that they’ve struggled since he hit the injured list. While they also need some bats to return from injury, having Skubal around makes winning a lot easier.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on www.si.com\/mlb\/tigers\/onsi as Tarik Skubal’s Recovery Progress Gives Tigers Huge Reason for Optimism<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Tigers could use some good news. The last couple of weeks have not been kind, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[5,399,147,53,2583,79,84,8611,388,6671,4,382,1323,594],"class_list":["post-700040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-tigers","tag-baseball","tag-casey-mize","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-detroittigers","tag-framber-valdez","tag-jack-flaherty","tag-jon-heyman","tag-justin-verlander","tag-keider-montero","tag-mlb","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-the-tigers","tag-tigers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116581529390067898","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}