A Sense of Doubt blog post #3566 - Detroit Tigers' Pitcher Tarik Skubal Wins Cy Young for 2024
I am so happy with how the Tigers played this season!
And so it very much deserved that Skubal win this Cy Young award.
https://www.freep.com/sports/tigers/
Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal unanimously wins 2024 American League Cy Young Award
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal received all 30 first-place votes as the unanimous winner of the 2024 American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday evening, putting an emphatic stamp on his status as the best pitcher in the game.
Another reason to celebrate: It's his 28th birthday.
Skubal — a ninth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Seattle University who had just one Division I offer — went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA, 35 walks and 228 strikeouts across 192 innings in 31 starts. He led the AL in wins, ERA and strikeouts to secure the first AL pitching Triple Crown in a 162-game season since Justin Verlander in 2011.
Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Lugo finished second and Cleveland Guardians right-handed reliever Emmanuel Clase finished third in the AL Cy Young race, as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Skubal is the second player in baseball history to win a BBWAA award (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year) on his birthday, joining 1953 National League MVP Roy Campanella.
How special is that, to be able to celebrate a Cy Young and me turning 28?" Skubal said Wednesday on a conference call. "I know age isn't a good thing in this game, but it was special, no doubt."
BEFORE THE SEASON:How Tigers' Tarik Skubal matured into an Opening Day ace with Cy Young potential
A total of 30 voters from the BBWAA — two writers representing each AL city — ranked their top five Cy Young candidates on a ballot submitted before the beginning of the postseason. The votes were worth seven points for first place, four for second place, three for third place, two for fourth place and one for fifth place.
Skubal received all 30 first-place votes for a total of 210 points. Lugo and Clase picked up 93 and 66 points, respectively, as the first and second runners-up. Skubal and Lugo were the only pitchers listed on every ballot.
Ten AL pitchers received at least one vote.
"They're both special players," Skubal said of fellow finalists Lugo and Clase. "Lugo, the amount of innings he's able to throw, and you look at his story, it's really, really cool. And then, obviously, Clase is the best closer in the game. I was hoping we never saw him when our team was losing because it's a tough, tough journey to get back to winning."
Lugo, 35, registered a 3.00 ERA with 48 walks and 181 strikeouts across 206⅔ innings in 33 starts; Clase, 26, logged a 0.61 ERA with 10 walks and 66 strikeouts across 74⅓ innings in 66 relief appearances, racking up 47 saves in 50 chances.
"Skubal is the best starting pitcher in the game right now," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said after Game 5 in the ALDS. "He's an unbelievable pitcher. I have a ton of respect for him and what he's done in this game. He's going to be really good for a very long time."
MANAGER OF THE YEAR:Tigers' A.J. Hinch finishes 3rd in 2024 American League Manager of the Year voting
Not only did Skubal win the AL Cy Young Award, but he also made the All-Star team for the first time in his five-year MLB career. He wore his heart on his sleeve along the way as he screamed in celebration after strikeouts in big moments.
Skubal bullied hitters with his high-velocity four-seam fastball, averaging 96.8 mph and maxing out at 101.7 mph. He wiped out right-handed hitters with his swing-and-miss changeup, which had a 46.1% whiff rate.
Most notably, Skubal threw pitches inside the strike zone fearlessly to induce weak contact and generate whiffs. He was one of the top-five pitchers with a 55.3% in-zone rate and one of the top-seven pitchers with a 68.7% first-pitch strike rate.
There were 30 AL pitchers who qualified for the ERA title in 2024. Of that group, Skubal ranked first in ERA (2.39), first in strikeout rate (30.3%), tied for third in walk rate (4.6%), second in walks and hits per innings pitched (0.922), tied for third in opponent batting average (.200) and fifth in innings (192).
"He's all in," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after Game 1 of the AL wild-card series. "He's intense, but he's under control. He's competitive, but he's a thinking man's pitcher. He's got weapons. He's the complete package of the guy that you want anchoring a staff."
Q&A:How Tigers manager A.J. Hinch brought postseason baseball back to Detroit
Nine AL pitchers have swept the Cy Young voting a combined 13 times, with Skubal in 2024 joining Denny McLain (1968), Ron Guidry (1978), Roger Clemens (1986, 1998), Pedro Martínez (1999, 2000), Johan Santana (2004, 2006), Verlander (2011, 2022), Shane Bieber (2020) and Gerrit Cole (2023).
Skubal is the fifth player in Tigers history to win the AL Cy Young Award, joining McLain (1968, 1969), Willie Hernández (1984), Verlander (2011) and Max Scherzer (2013).
"He's been able to grow in the national attention, yet be the same person behind the scenes with the same work ethic and the same routine," Hinch said before Game 1 of the AL wild-card series. "He's been nothing short of the best pitcher in baseball, and that's no disrespect to a lot of pitchers who are dominant at this level."
In the NL, Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale won the Cy Young Award for the first time in his 14-year MLB career. He had six consecutive top-five finishes, including two top-three finishes, without winning from 2013-18.
In 2024, Sale won the NL pitching Triple Crown by leading his league with 18 wins, a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts.
Skubal and Sale became the first pitchers to win the Triple Crown in their respective leagues in the same season since Verlander and Clayton Kershaw in 2011. Both Verlander and Kershaw won the Cy Young in their respective leagues in 2011, just like Skubal and Sale in 2024.
"Hell of a year for him," Skubal said of Sale. "If you look at his career, it's to no surprise that he's winning this award. He's an extremely talented baseball player. I'd love to share a clubhouse with him because I've heard great things about who he is off the field and the leadership that he provides in the clubhouse. He has the World Series ring to go along with it. The list goes on for that guy."
The 2024 Cy Young winners tied with 18 wins, but Skubal had more strikeouts (228 to 225) and Sale had a lower ERA (2.38 to 2.39). Had Skubal given up one fewer run, he would've led all MLB pitchers — spanning both leagues — in the three Triple Crown categories for the first time in a full season since Santana in 2006.
THE GUYS:Tarik Skubal and Jake Rogers: Friends, crossword puzzle enthusiasts, batterymates
"I don't think you can ever talk too much about Skub this year, just what he's done with the numbers in the regular season," Tigers catcher Jake Rogers, who called pitches for all 31 of Skubal's starts, said before Game 1 of the AL wild-card series. "I can't really put into words how good he's been. I think the confidence, the routine and him being himself is a huge step for him."
An AL pitcher hasn't won back-to-back Cy Young Awards since Martinez in 1999-2000.
Skubal is primed to be the first in the 21st century.
After all, Skubal has been the best pitcher in baseball since returning July 4, 2023, from his second-career elbow surgery — leading all qualified pitchers with a 2.51 ERA and a 31% strikeout rate across 272⅓ innings in 46 starts.
He isn't showing any signs of slowing down.
Here are the full results of the BBWAA vote for the 2024 AL Cy Young Award: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (210 points), Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals (93 points), Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians (66 points), Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals (48 points), Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles (47 points), Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners (25 points), Framber Valdez, Houston Astros (17 points), Kirby Yates, Texas Rangers (2 points), Yusei Kikuchi, Houston Astros (1 point), Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians (1 point).
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Tarik Skubal credits Tigers playoff run for helping him win Cy Young
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal — the 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner — is a team-first player. He always talks about the accomplishments of the team and never boasts about his personal achievements.
Surprisingly, Skubal exposed his own secret.
Here's what Skubal confessed: After months of deflecting, the ace of the Tigers let thoughts of winning the AL Cy Young Award creep into his mindset around the July 30 trade deadline, when the Tigers traded away four veteran players.
"And then once our team got hot, and the playoff push started to happen, it immediately eliminated those thoughts," Skubal said Wednesday on a conference call. "That was a blessing."
HOLIDAY GIFT:How to buy special Tarik Skubal poster celebrating AL Cy Young Award
Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award on Wednesday for the first time in his five-year MLB career, receiving all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America for the 13th unanimous victory in the history of the AL award.
The 28-year-old went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA, 35 walks and 228 strikeouts across 192 innings in 31 starts. He also pitched in the postseason for the first time, posting a 2.37 ERA with two walks and 20 strikeouts across 19 innings in three starts.
The Tigers reached the playoffs with Skubal as one of two traditional starters in the rotation for the final two months of the regular season, using an untraditional opener-bulk reliever strategy for the other three spots in the rotation.
"When I was given the ball every fifth day, I think everyone expected to win," Skubal said, "and that's something I take a ton of pride in. I'm trying to be the same guy and put my team in a position to win every fifth day, and we'll figure out the other three, four days in between. I think it speaks to what we did. We were able to do those things and probably gave A.J. (Hinch, manager) some long nights, but he was good for it."
[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
The Tigers, though, were all but eliminated from postseason contention at the July 30 trade deadline. Therefore, president of baseball operations Scott Harris traded Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin, Mark Canha and Carson Kelly. When those trades happened, Skubal started to think about winning the award.
Who could blame him?
After Aug. 10, the Tigers were on pace for 75 wins (which would've been the second-fewest wins in the four seasons under Hinch) with a 55-63 record, sitting 10 games out of a wild-card spot.
That's when everything changed — for Skubal and the Tigers.
The Tigers went on a 31-11 run from Aug. 11 through Sept. 27 to clinch a wild-card spot in the postseason, finishing 86-76 for their most wins in the past eight seasons and advancing to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
JEFF SEIDEL:Tarik Skubal's climb to AL Cy Young a testament of perseverance and his own magic
"I think when you start thinking about this game individually, it'll eat you up," Skubal said. "When you think about it from a team aspect, it's a fun and beautiful game to play. As much as the playoff thing was great for our team, it was also great for me as an individual."
Beginning Aug. 11, Skubal went 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA, seven walks and 57 strikeouts across 48⅔ innings in his final eight starts of the regular season. The results of those eight starts dropped his season-long ERA from 2.57 to 2.39.
In total, the Tigers won 21 of Skubal's 31 starts.
"It's always my goal to put my team in a position to win," Skubal said, "but then you put some meaningful games in there for the last six, seven weeks of the season, it just heightens and elevates that level of focus that you don't get anywhere else. What our team was able to do was special, not only for our club but also for me."
Skubal performed at his best when the games mattered the most, which ultimately led to the first three postseason starts of his career — and the AL Cy Young Award.
But award-winning pitcher didn't forget to show love to his support system, including his teammates.
"I don't really like talking about myself too much," Skubal said. "As much as this is an individual award, it's very much a team effort, a group effort, from the people that are in my life, from the organization, from the defense, the catching, the timely hitting. As much as I can make it about myself, I think it's important to give credit to the people around me that make me look good when I'm on the mound. It's important to give credit to people that make my job pretty simple."
PAYS OFF:Tarik Skubal 'worked really hard' to become MLB's best, says workout buddy
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2411.22 - 10:10
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