While ten other pitchers took the mound for the American League on Tuesday night, Tarik Skubal spent the All-Star break doing what he does every week between starts: his normal throwing program, per MLB.com. The Tigers left-hander, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, was not on the All-Star staff this year after missing five weeks following an arthroscopic elbow procedure — and he saw that one coming. He told the Detroit News in late June that his “gut response” was not to throw in the game so soon after coming back.
It is hard to argue with protecting the arm, because the arm has been fine. Since returning, Skubal has looked like himself, and his season line — 5-5 with a 3.09 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP and 89 strikeouts over 75.2 innings in 13 starts — says the only thing the elbow cost him was volume. The record reflects a team that reached the break 44-52, six and a half games back in the AL Central after dropping its last two to Philadelphia.
The quiet week will not quiet the trade noise around him. Bob Nightengale reported this week that the Rays plan to make Skubal their top deadline target, and the broader market for the ace — including Detroit’s reported preference to keep him — has been building for weeks. What the break bought Detroit is a rested, fully stretched-out Skubal for whatever the next three weeks bring: a stretch run, a blockbuster, or both.
For fantasy purposes, the skipped exhibition inning is a small plus — Skubal opens the second half on full rest with no added workload, and his per-inning numbers remain top-five starter material. The missed month caps his innings ceiling, so treat him as an elite-ratio SP1 who may finish 25 to 30 innings short of the league leaders.
