The Dodgers are acquiring left-hander Tarik Skubal from the Tigers, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Detroit will receive right-hander River Ryan, outfielder Zyhir Hope, and righty Brady Smith, adds Passan.
The biggest domino heading into the 2026 deadline has finally fallen. The two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner is joining the back-to-back champs in their quest for a three-peat. Skubal’s pending free agency led to widespread speculation he’d be traded this summer. Detroit has remained on the periphery of the Wild Card race in a watered-down American League, but ultimately decided to pull the trigger on a blockbuster deal.
Skubal joins a star-studded rotation that currently includes World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and 2026 All-Star Justin Wrobleski. The group will soon add two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and former All-Star Tyler Glasnow. Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki are overqualified depth starters, to say the least. And that doesn’t even include Shohei Ohtani and 1.79 ERA.
This major move seemed in jeopardy after Skubal went down with an elbow injury in early May. Instead, the lefty became the first player to have surgery done with a NanoNeedle, which is less invasive and led to an expedited recovery timeline. Skubal started a rehab assignment about a month after going under the knife. He returned to the big leagues after missing fewer than six weeks.
After a somewhat limited workload in his first few starts back, Skubal worked deep into his final appearances in Detroit. He pitched beyond the sixth inning in each of his last three starts with the team. Skubal capped off his Tigers tenure with a quality start against the Orioles on Wednesday. Detroit held a 7-0 lead after six innings, only to fumble it away and lose in extras. The meltdown pushed the club seven games below .500 and seemed to mark the end of Detroit’s postseason chances.
Skubal hasn’t been as dominant in 2026, but the standard is quite high. A 2.79 ERA with a 31% strikeout rate over 16 starts is clearly excellent. It’s a slight step back from his Cy Young campaigns, though the underlying metrics are actually better this year. Skubal’s 2.50 xFIP and 2.67 SIERA are the best marks of his career. He’s trimmed his already-low walk rate to a career-best 3.7%.
More to come…
