Tarik Skubal is coming back to Comerica Park next weekend, and he apparently won’t be spending the entire series sitting in the visiting dugout.
The former Detroit Tigers ace is expected to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers during their three-game series against Detroit from Aug. 28-30, according to a Thursday report from The Detroit News. Skubal is set to take the mound on Aug. 29 at 1:10 p.m. ET.
That takes what was already going to be an unusual homecoming and turns it into something considerably more interesting.
Skubal was traded to Los Angeles earlier this month in the blockbuster that sent outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit. MLB confirmed the three-player return when the deal became official on Aug. 2.
Now Tigers hitters are going to have to deal with a problem they spent years watching other teams try to solve.
Tarik Skubal’s Detroit return suddenly gets much different
When the trade happened, it wasn’t clear whether Skubal’s rotation schedule would allow him to pitch at Comerica Park.
That question has apparently been answered.
Los Angeles currently has Skubal lined up to start Sunday against Pittsburgh. If the Dodgers maintain their rotation, his next turn would come during the Detroit series. The Tigers and Dodgers play Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.
That’s going to be strange.
Skubal spent his entire Major League career with Detroit before the trade, developed from a ninth-round draft pick into one of baseball’s premier pitchers and won consecutive American League Cy Young Awards in a Tigers uniform.
His departure wasn’t exactly emotionless, either. Skubal became emotional while discussing the trade and what Detroit meant to him immediately after the deal.
There is also still at least a theoretical chance that this isn’t the final chapter between Skubal and Detroit. He is scheduled for free agency following the season, which means a Tigers reunion remains possible this winter, even after Detroit collected three young players for him at the deadline.
For one afternoon next weekend, none of that will matter much.
Skubal will be wearing Dodgers blue. Tigers hitters will be standing 60 feet, 6 inches away. And a Comerica Park crowd that spent years cheering every strikeout will suddenly be hoping somebody puts his changeup into the seats.
Baseball can be a little rude that way.
The standing ovation when Skubal takes the field should be substantial. Once the first pitch is thrown, Detroit’s job becomes much less sentimental.
Beat him.
