CLEVELAND — Tarik Skubal had no interest in celebrating his comeback from elbow surgery with feel-good stories or congratulatory messages. Keep the encouragement for somebody else.
The fierce left-handed pitcher didn’t earn consecutive AL Cy Young Awards through sentiment or emotional storylines. He’s focused purely on results, and his months away from pitching didn’t change that competitive drive one bit.
“I don’t want to play into that narrative of trying to be back,” Skubal stated Saturday after his first appearance since April 29. “I need to be better, plain and simple. ‘Just happy to be there,’ that’s a loser mentality to me. I need to go out there and pitch and compete and give my team a chance to win and I didn’t do that.”
The pitcher displayed some expected shakiness during his 4 2/3-inning performance as Detroit once more struggled with clutch hitting, leaving 11 baserunners stranded in their 3-1 defeat to the Cleveland Guardians. Skubal underwent an advanced surgical technique on May 6 to extract a loose fragment from his elbow, which sped up his recovery timeline.
Though Skubal wasn’t at his dominant best, the Tigers were simply grateful to see jersey No. 29 back on the hill, throwing with his distinctive high-leg windup.
“He didn’t execute at the level that we’re used to,” said Detroit manager A.J. Hinch. “But man, it was nice to see him out there.”
Hinch pulled Skubal after 80 throws, calling it a “weird start” because Cleveland’s batting order shifted significantly early on when the Guardians lost outfielders Angel Martinez (bruised foot) and Chase DeLauter (bruised ribs) to injuries.
The southpaw surrendered five hits, recorded four strikeouts and committed one costly error in judgment when he threw a high pitch with two strikes to Daniel Schneemann, who launched a two-run blast in the third frame.
“If I want one pitch back, it’s the one to Schneemann,” Skubal reflected.
Leading the count 0-2, Skubal missed his target with an elevated fastball that Schneeman, a left-handed batter facing Detroit’s star for the first time, sent 417 feet to put Cleveland ahead 3-1.
“It was bad. Really bad,” Skubal admitted. “On 0-2, I’m going up and away and I kind of miss. It’s not in enough and it’s not up enough. If I’m going to miss, it needs to be more in and more up. It’s a good swing on it, but the execution on it was pretty poor.”
Skubal’s throwing speed appeared normal, with his fastball reaching the mid-90s (mph). His curveball and slider maintained their typical rotation, and overall he felt satisfied with most aspects of his performance.
“My process was really good today,” he explained. “Every pitch I was bought-in on. At the end of the day, that’s all I can really control, is me trying to go out there and execute every pitch and sometimes things just don’t fall your way.
“Credit to those guys, too. They had some really good at-bats, and they were in on some pitches, and fouled off some pitches and took some really good pitches, too. You kind of give credit where credit is due. At the same time, I’ve got to be better to give our team a chance to win. I just didn’t do that today.”
