LAKELAND, Fla. – Tarik Skubal is a southpaw pitcher at the top of his profession, having won back-to-back American League Cy Young awards along with a record arbitration award. He is also a child at heart.
“Still young,” he reminded when a reporter began a question about a prospect by noting that he was once among the young guys in the clubhouse. “Twenty-nine.”
When it comes to new teammate and locker room neighbor Justin Verlander, however, Skubal is still the teenager in Arizona who grew up idolizing a Major League ace.
“When we were kind of tinkering around with [signing Verlander], I got a little early insight on it, and I was giddy as a kid. Like, this is a childhood idol that I get to be locker mates with. When I think of Hall of Famers, I got to be teammates with [Miguel Cabrera]. He’s obviously a position player, so there’s less to kind of learn from. Whereas [Verlander], I want to do all the things that he’s done and accomplish all the things that he has accomplished in his career. It’s going to be awesome to be locker mates with him.
“I mean, if you would’ve told me 10 years ago that I’m gonna be locker mates with Justin Verlander and we’re gonna be in the same rotation, I would’ve called you crazy. So yeah, it’s pretty cool. I mean, I’m getting goosebumps right now. When you look at his career, I could talk probably 30 more minutes the impact he’s going to have on me personally.”
So imagine Skubal’s reaction when Verlander walked into the clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, having finalized his one-year contract to rejoin his original team. And imagine Skubal’s reaction when his attempt at humor to break the ice turns into an orientation tour for one of the greatest pitchers in Tigers history.
“I go, ‘Hey, you need a tour of this place?’ I’m just messing around. And he goes, ‘No, like serious, I do.’ And I was like: Wait, when was this place built? I thought he had been here. It was just a joke. I’m going to make the same joke when we go to Comerica.
“Then we start walking around the corner, right out here, and I’m like, ‘Hey, this is you right here [on the wall]. We need to update some pictures around here.’ I’m joking around the whole time, like, ‘Here’s the training room, here’s the weight room, that’s the field.’ Yeah, it was wild, for sure.”
Between the Verlander reunion and last week’s signing of free agent Framber Valdez, the Tigers have suddenly built a star-studded rotation. But Skubal remains the unquestioned ace, which is why manager A.J. Hinch’s announcement that Skubal will make his third consecutive Opening Day start was more of an afterthought than it was breaking news.
Skubal is at the top of the game, but he still sees Verlander’s return as an opportunity to learn. The first question he asked?
“How he wants me to address him,” Skubal smiled. “Ver? JV? Justin? That was my first question. And then after that, just kind of getting to know him.
“The baseball stuff will happen, because we’re going to spend a lot of time together, whether we like it or not. It’s going to be seven months together. We’re going to spend more time with these guys than our families. All the baseball stuff will kind of happen naturally, quick questions.
“Today, I’m watching his heater and I’m like, ‘What’s the cue there? What are you thinking?’ He kind of gives me a cue, and I tried it, and it doesn’t really resonate with me. But something will, and I think that’s the best takeaway. He’s going to have an impact on a lot of guys here, just with his presence, for sure.”
