Tarik Skubal joined an exclusive club when he won his second consecutive American League Cy Young award this week.
With the end of his contract looming, Detroit Tigers fans are now left to wonder whether Skubal will be in Detroit for much longer.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about that and what this year's Cy Young awards reveal about the evolution of Major League Baseball.
They also discussed a change for the Detroit Lions, and which college football teams are looking good — and not so good — heading into the final weeks of the season.
Football this weekend:
Michigan vs. Northwestern at Wrigley Field, Chicago - Sat., Noon
Penn State at Michigan State - Sat., 3:30 p.m.
Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles - Sun., 8:20 p.m.
Doug Tribou: Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal was named the American League Cy Young Award winner this week. He is just the 12th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win the award in consecutive seasons. John, what makes Skubal such a special talent?
John U. Bacon: Well, first of all, let's back it up with the two Cy Youngs in a row. That means you're almost walking into the Hall of Fame right now. So I'd say his future's looking very bright. What makes him very special? He's got a four or five great pitches, including a fastball that gets up to 103 miles per hour. Doug, I don't drive that fast, all right? [Laughs].
DT: [Laughs] Good to hear.
JUB: I can't even imagine that. Let's hope no one does. And a killer changeup. And a changeup is when you intentionally throw the ball slowly so the batter does not know if you're coming fast or coming slow, so it screws them up. Great control — and that rarest of qualities: he is consistent. That is the hardest thing to do in life.
DT: A fun side note here, John. One of the other finalists for the award, is another Detroit pitcher, but not a Tigers pitcher. Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown was born in Detroit and played his college baseball in Division II at Wayne State University.
JUB: Go Warriors.
DT: In the National League, Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes won the Cy Young, and he was the unanimous selection by the voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Some casual baseball fans in our audience might notice that Skenes' win-loss record was just 10-10, making him the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award without having a winning record. And Tarik Skubal was 13-6 this season. And some fans remember when anything under 20 wins, or maybe 18, seemed too low to win a Cy Young Award.
JUB: Exactly right. It wasn't that long ago, Doug. I was alive, and so were you, I believe. A few things here. One, Skenes plays on the third-worst team in the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates. So you win ten games for that team, you've done something very heroic it turns out. But this does show us, Doug, that two things have now seeped into the modern day game. One, pitching by committee. These guys don't finish games. They pitch six, maybe seven innings. Two or three relievers will come in afterwards.
In the old days, back when you and I were kids, pitchers would have 20 or 30 complete games — meaning they'd pitch all nine innings. That almost never happens anymore, including in the playoffs, of course, with Tarik Skubal in a game that some fans, including me, thought they should keep him in. So that's one aspect of the lack of wins.
Second thing is analytics have truly taken over baseball. That is the computerization, if you will, of baseball strategy. And for the most part, that's very good. You make better decisions, as you might imagine. Some would say not always, but if you want evidence look at Skenes and look at Tarik Skubal. 13 wins and 10 wins. In the old days, Doug, those guys would not be the best guy on their staff, even on a losing team.
DT: That's right. And there's been this push by some of the stat lovers to eliminate the win, or at least to de-emphasize it because it is so reliant on other things. In this case, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal had a lot of games where they pitched very well, but their teams just didn't score enough runs to win, even though they only gave up a couple [of runs].
JUB: Well, that's right, and that's a rational approach. Here's the good news stat lovers: look at Skenes and look at Skubal. Trust me, wins have been deemphasized.
DT: For Tigers fans, there's a bigger issue than the Cy Young qualifications of Tarik Skubal. There's the issue of whether he'll still be a Tiger by the end of next season. His contract expires at the end of the 2026 campaign. Plenty of teams would be glad to open the vault to sign him. How do you see this playing out?
JUB: Well, three possible ways. The happy way is the Ilitch family pays the money, which would be a ton of money, $300-400 million to keep this guy for the rest of his career. That's the happy outcome. Two, they trade him now while they still have a year left of value and get something in return. Or three, just play out the next season hoping to do as well as you can with Skubal in the lineup. And then, he's gone for somewhere else for free. And those two options aren't very popular, of course, with Tigers fans.
It's worth noting the Ilitch family are the third richest owners in Major League Baseball, which is saying something because those guys are tend to be billionaires. So, they have the money for this.
DT: The Lions won big last weekend. There's been a lot of talk this week about the fact that head coach Dan Campbell called the plays in that game. Detroit offensive coordinator John Morton had been doing that before. Campbell thought they needed to mix things up. Good call?
JUB: In hindsight, Doug, I can say great call.
DT: [Laughs] They won!
JUB: [Laughs] How's that for a bold statement, Doug?
DT: All the analysis right here on Michigan Public.
JUB: See right there, people. Top quality right here on this station. So yes. They won. They looked great doing it. They scored 44 points which is the second highest they've had all season. So you'd have to say it's a pretty good way to go. What surprises me is that Dan Campbell is so public about it. Usually you try to save face for your offensive coordinator, John Morton, but not in this case.
"Watch for improvement out of [quarterback Bryce] Underwood this week or trouble for the Wolverines."John U. Bacon on the key for Michigan football heading into the closing weeks of the season
DT: Let's turn to college football, John. And before we get to the Spartans and Wolverines, I want to note that it takes six wins to become eligible for a bowl game. And two teams in Michigan got to that mark this week. Central Michigan and Western Michigan are now bowl-eligible. Of course, both teams will be hoping to get above that minimum number of wins in the closing weeks of the season here.
JUB: Yeah, and good for them. Good sign there. And Michigan already has seven wins, so they're already there.
DT: And the Wolverines are ranked No. 18 in the country. They will face Northwestern at Chicago's historic Wrigley Field on Saturday at noon. Northwestern is unranked. What are the keys for Michigan here?
JUB: Don't play down to your competition, which in this case is Northwestern. They're 5-4. They've had some good wins actually, including over Penn State. But this is a team that Michigan certainly should beat. But Bryce Underwood, the freshman quarterback for Michigan, he has got to play better. He played the worst game of his season last game out against Purdue in a very uninspired victory. So watch for improvement out of Underwood this week or trouble for the Wolverines.
DT: Michigan State is struggling. The Spartans have lost six straight. They are 0-6 against Big Ten opponents, and they're just 3-6 overall for the season. The good news is that Saturday the Spartans are hosting Penn State in East Lansing. The Nittany Lions have lost six straight. They are also 0-6 against Big Ten opponents and 3-6 overall for the season. I think someone's going to come out of here in better shape, John.
JUB: [Laughs] Or at least not 0-7. So yeah.
DT: Prediction: a losing streak will end tomorrow [Laughs].
JUB: Yes. Again more hard hitting analysis here. Well done there, Doug. But I'm still not sure I'd bet on the Spartans in this one. That team looks almost lifeless, starting with Jonathan Smith, their head coach. The good news for Spartan fans, though, is Michigan State hockey is great, and Adam Nightingale is a first-rate coach. And Tom Izzo is a legend in basketball. Two out of three ain't bad.
Editor's notes: Quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
