Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch must be loving how his rotation looks with the addition of Framber Valdez earlier this week. He contains two of the best lefties in the sport at the top of the rotation, followed by some solid right-handed pitchers. The addition of Kenley Jansen gives them a veteran presence in the bullpen. The Tigers are going to be a threat once again in the AL Central, led by the pitching staff.
The Tigers manager was on the Foul Territory Podcast to discuss his ace, Tarik Skubal, and why feedback is the southpaw's biggest motivator.
“He wants you to punch him in the face and tell him that he stunk that day.”
AJ Hinch says Tarik Skubal's biggest motivator is feedback. 😤 pic.twitter.com/UmbCDdmwsj
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 7, 2026
“You can't BS this dude,” Hinch said. “There are 2-3 times per year when he is just not quite feeling it, and he's not quite punching out the world or whatever. He wants you to kind of punch him in the face and tell him that he stunk that day, or you didn't like the way he did this. So, motivating him is hitting him dead straight with the information that you have, and what the expectations are, and why you're doing what you're doing, and getting him into his routine and process.”
Not shying away from feedback is hard to do. Skubal loves to hear what is going wrong so he can fix the mistakes and improve. You can tell he takes that seriously over the last few seasons. His rise to fame has been electric.
Skubal did not have many bad games in 2025, but when he did, he always followed it up with a better performance the following game. Eight times in 2025, Skubal followed up a game where he allowed an earned run with a shutout performance.
