DETROIT — Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional, and the Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games.
In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings, but the reigning American League Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers.
“The game’s changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they’ve ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game,” Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. “I want him thinking a lot about it. I don’t want it to be an easy decision.
“That’s kind of that’s what starting pitching is: You take the ball and you eat innings. There’s probably been a little bit of less value in that in today’s game as it was five, 10 years ago.”
Justin Verlander laments that fact.
“Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning,” he said.
Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young winner in his first season with the Giants, understands that clubs try to limit the number of innings starters pitch, in part to avoid injuries.
The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons.
“Even at that time, that was a little old school,” Verlander said. “Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on and do it every five days.”
When Skubal makes his next start Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing left-hander wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual.
“I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning,” Skubal said. “There’s going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I’m not too proud of those ones. I’m proud of ones I’m in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys.”
In Skubal’s last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included only 22 balls and zero walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors.
If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient, Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning.
“If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in,” Hinch said.
Hinch said it’s not an indictment on starters when they don’t last deep in games, adding it’s not a “healthy badge of honor” to just leave pitchers on the mound because they are having a good day.
Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter.
“As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest‘s first pitch? Or Tommy Kahnle‘s first pitch? Or Brant Hurter‘s first pitch?” Hinch asked. “The answer is no.”
