Detroit Tigers spring training game vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: How to follow game not on TV
Detroit Tigers (2-2-1) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (1-3), Grapefruit League exhibition
When: 1:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: LEMCOM Park in Bradenton, Florida.
TV: None.
Radio: MLB.com.
Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (7-3, 2.80 ERA in 2023) vs. Pirates RHP Quinn Priester (3-3, 7.74 ERA in 2023).
Tigers lineup: TBA.
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Game notes: For the first time in 2024, the Detroit Tigers will have their ace on the mound today.
Tatik Skubal is coming off a breakout second half of the year after returning right before the All-Star break last season. Skubal underwent flexor tendon surgery on his throwing arm and spent the first part of the year slowly but carefully recovering before making his return July 4.
Once he was back on the diamond, he flashed Cy Young potential. Skubal was actually better than his 7-3 record and 2.80 ERA may show in his 15 starts. The 6-foot-3 lefty only walked 14 batters in his 15 appearances and the only real knock was his tendency to have a blow-up inning in some of his outings. Immediately after returning from injury, Skubal hit the ground running. In his first outing, he pitched four innings, struck out six batters, and did not allow a walk or hit.
He kept the scoreless innings streak going into his third game until he allowed two runs in the third and five runs in the fourth inning, a sign of things to come. From July 18 to Aug. 11, Skubal made five starts and allowed 15 earned runs. Fourteen of those runs came in just four total innings, meaning the other 20⅓ innings he pitched were scoreless. Then from Aug. 29 on, he never allowed more than two earned runs in any game and pitched six innings or more on four of the occasions, looking like one of the best pitchers in baseball.
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Skubal will be looking to pick up right where he left off last season, now as the team's undisputed ace after Eduardo Rodriguez left in free agency.
The Tigers will need a lot from Skubal in his new role, including staying healthy. Few could question the raw talent that Skubal has, but up to this point staying healthy has been the biggest sticking point.
If Skubal really does want to catapult into the Cy Young conversation, he will need to fill more innings, which he showed he was capable of doing down the stretch last year. Skubal's career high for innings pitched is 149⅓, which he did in 2021. For context, last year's Cy Young winners Gerrit Cole and Blake Snell threw 209 and 180 innings respectively. It'd be a big jump, and as the Tigers try and ease Skubal back and make sure he stays healthy, 2024 may not be the year for him to win the award, but Skubal making the leap to the elite category could be one of the major factors in keeping the Tigers in playoff contention.
And it all starts Wednesday afternoon in Bradenton, Florida.
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Live updates
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers spring training game vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Time, info
