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6 hours ago
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Detroit Tigers ace starting pitcher Tarik Skubal truly had a season for the ages in 2024.
An 18-4 record paired with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts led Skubal to a pitching Triple Crown, the first since 2020 and the first in a full season since 2011, when another legendary Tigers pitcher by the name of Justin Verlander led the league in all three stats on his way to his first Cy Young Award, as well as AL MVP.
And even better, Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale also won the Triple Crown in the same year, making them the first duo to win the Triple Crown in their respective leagues in the same season since 2011, when Verlander and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw achieved the feat.
And according to MLB analyst Jayson Stark, he believes that Skubal could very much be on his way to adding Cy Young Award number two in his trophy case, listing Skubal as the AL recipient in his midseason awards.
"It's time to recognize that when we watch Tarik Skubal throw a baseball, he's working at a different level from almost everyone else," said the writer. "I spent a lot of time digging in on the spectacular seasons of Hunter Brown, Max Fried, Jacob deGrom, Joe Ryan, Garrett Crochet, and every other AL pitcher I could make a Cy Young case for. They're all having tremendous seasons, and their teams would be in way worse shape without them."
With much respect to deGrom, Brown, Fried, and the other names Stark mentioned, we'd have to agree with the statement that Skubal is simply on a higher level than his fellow American League arms and that unless a massive collapse or injury happens to the flamethrowing southpaw, the 2025 AL Cy Young is his to lose.
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