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With Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal highly regarded among his peers, one that he is surely happy to see those same praises from is a franchise great in Justin Verlander, currently with the San Francisco Giants. After Skubal threw a shutout game for the Tigers, Verlander spoke about the ace's excellence on the mound.
There's no doubt that Verlander has taken a liking to Skubal, especially calling the shutout “eye-opening” as he pitched all nine innings with 13 strikeouts in a remarkable 94 pitches. Verlander would speak about the difference with today's pitchers and how teams are pulling them earlier than usual, but the 42-year-old would say for Detroit's situation, they “got the best pitcher in baseball,” according to The Athletic.
“To me, if I’m the Tigers and I’ve got the best pitcher in baseball, I want that mother—— out there as long as possible,” Verlander said. “Ride that horse. Hell yeah. That’s the way I felt about it when I was pitching. They’re like, ‘You’re our guy, we want you every fifth day.’ They would skip the fifth starter. We have an extra off days, and it’s like, ‘Hey, how you feeling?’ … I feel good. It was fine, it was great, it was awesome. And I loved it.”
Tigers' Tarik Skubal on meeting Justin Verlander for the first time
With others calling the Tigers' star pitcher the best in baseball, Verlander would even say he's become a “fan” of the 28-year-old who has thrown a 2.49 ERA with 92 strikeouts (second in the majors) with a 5-2 record. Before the season started, Skubal would speak on meeting Verlander during an exhibition series, admitting he was “starstruck.”
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“You’re a little starstruck, honestly,” Skubal said. “What he means to this organization and what he’s accomplished in his career, he’s a Hall of Famer, and he’s been doing it for a long time. When you’re in my shoes, you strive to be who he is. I think that’s pretty cool.”
As for going deeper in outings, Verlander likes to see Skubal doing it and wants to see others vying for that opportunity since he strived for that when younger.
“I do appreciate seeing him go deeper in games and wanting to do that,” Verlander said. “I think as a starting pitcher, for me, getting deep in games was something I always tried to do. It was less about I want to have zero runs given up and more about going deep in the game. You sacrifice sometimes. If your team scores six runs early in a game, I’m attacking. I’m sure he does the same.”
At any rate, Detroit is 37-20, which puts them first in the AL Central as they start a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
