Tigers: MLB analyst breaks down Tarik Skubal’s incredible tunneling of fastball and changeup

What if I told you the Detroit Tigers don’t just have a potential ace in their rotation, but a pitcher who can realistically win the American League Cy Young award in 2024? And no, I’m not talking about veterans Kenta Maeda or Jack Flaherty, who were both added this offseason. Rather, Tarik Skubal features superstar potential.

He quietly enjoyed an impressive 2023 season, but was limited to only 15 games due to injuries. He still managed to record a stellar 2.80 ERA across 80.1 innings pitched. Skubal added 102 strikeouts and walked just 14 hitters during that span.

Mike Petriello of MLB.com recently took an in-depth look at how Skubal utilizes his fastball and changeup.

The breakdown

Skubal has reportedly been interested in the tunneling action of his pitches. For those who may not be aware, tunneling in baseball is when two pitches look the same coming out of the hand of a pitcher before going in different directions based on what pitch is being thrown.

For example, often times a pitcher will tunnel his slider off his fastball. Both pitches look similar out of the hand, but the slider darts away or toward the batter depending on a hitter’s handedness. For Skubal, though, he is tunneling his fastball and changeup in a different manner, according to Petriello.

Petriello shared a graph in his MLB.com article showing how the Tigers left-handed hurler’s arm angle and release point with his fastball and changeup was almost identical in 2023. This is something that would keep hitters guessing at the plate. Batters won’t know whether his heater or changeup is on the way.

More encouragement for Tigers’ Tarik Skubal

Again, Skubal’s surface numbers were impressive in 2023. According to Baseball Reference, Skubal also limited hitters to a .199/.242/.298/.540 slash line against him in 2023, all of which were career bests.

In 2023, he also recorded the highest strikeout rate (32.9 percent), lowest walk rate (4.5 percent), and lowest flyable rate (19.4 percent) of his career. Sure, it was a limited sample size but it was clear that Skubal was on the verge of a breakout campaign.

So if he can manage to stay healthy in 2024, there is reason to believe that Tarik Skubal will lead the Tigers rotation while emerging as one of baseball’s best pitchers. The numbers back up the prediction, and simply watching Skubal pitch is intriguing enough. He passes the eye test with his delivery and intensity on the mound.