Tigers Are About to Get a Pitching Cavalry: Skubal, Verlander, and Mize All Expected Back Soon
The Detroit Tigers have spent the first two months of the season patching together a pitching staff with rookies, retreads, and prayer. The cavalry is finally on the way.
Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander, Casey Mize, and Kenley Jansen are all expected back from the injured list in the coming weeks, according to multiple reports out of Detroit. The Tigers currently have nine pitchers on the big-league injured list. Even getting half of them back is going to change the shape of the AL Central.
The most important name on that list is Skubal. The two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner had NanoScope elbow surgery in March and is on track to return in mid-June. He has been throwing live batting practice and ramping up his pitch count. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said this week that Skubal would not need a long minor-league rehab assignment, which is a significant indicator that he is close.
Verlander is the bigger surprise. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer signed a one-year deal with Detroit in the offseason and was placed on the IL with a shoulder strain three weeks into the season. He has been throwing bullpens for the last two weeks. He is expected back on a major-league mound by the end of June.
Mize, meanwhile, has been working his way back from another in a long line of injuries. The former first overall pick has not been able to stay healthy for a full season since 2021. He looked like himself in his last rehab outing.
Jansen, the closer, is the smallest name but maybe the most important for the bullpen. He has been the Tigers’ best ninth-inning option when healthy. The bullpen has been a disaster without him.
The timing matters because the AL Central is more wide open than anyone expected. The Royals have been good but not great. The Twins have been mediocre. The Guardians have been their usual scrappy selves. The White Sox are the White Sox. Nobody has run away with the division. The Tigers, at 31-33 entering Wednesday, are a hot 10-game stretch from being in first place.
Getting Skubal back is the move that could change the entire season. He is, when healthy, the best pitcher in the American League. He is also, almost certainly, the most valuable trade chip in baseball if Detroit decides to sell at the deadline. Either way, having him back on the mound is good news for the franchise.
The trade deadline angle is the wrinkle here. The Tigers will not commit Skubal to a contract extension. Scott Boras is asking for $400 million-plus over multiple years. Detroit will not match. That means Skubal is either getting traded by July 31 or walking as a free agent at the end of the season.
The Dodgers are the favorites to land him in a deadline deal. Multiple MLB executives told ESPN’s Jeff Passan that if Los Angeles wants Skubal, the team will get Skubal. Detroit’s return would be massive. Picture a package centered around Dalton Rushing and at least one of the Dodgers’ top three pitching prospects.
For now, the Tigers just need to get him on the mound. A healthy Skubal showcase in late June and early July maximizes his trade value. A healthy Skubal also maximizes Detroit’s playoff chances if the front office decides to keep him. Either way, the next two months are going to be the most important in the franchise’s recent history.
Help is coming. The Tigers just need it to arrive faster than the trade deadline.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
