Tarik Skubal has torched hitters in 2025, proving he’s one of the key pieces to the Detroit Tigers’ successful season. The Tigers have relied on a dominant pitching staff, one that is spearheaded by Skubal himself. In a recent interview, Skubal recalled the Tigers legend that the 28-year-old still molds himself after today.
Tarik Skubal Looks To Follow Justin Verlander’s Path
While Justin Verlander is 42 years old, he’s still pitching at a relatively high level. The righty currently finds himself on the San Francisco Giants, the fourth team in his illustrious 20-year career. Skubal is undoubtedly in the prime of his career, trying to replicate the success that Verlander was able to accomplish on the Tigers from 2005-17.
The two have received numerous comparisons over the years, and Verlander recently commented on the noise.
“It would be fun to say yeah,” Verlander said to MLB Network. “I don’t know, man. He’s his own thing. I don’t want people to compare him to me.
“Obviously, natural comparisons will happen just with time and stats. He throws 100 [mph], and so did I. It’s fun to throw that out there. But I mean, different pitcher, different era.”
Skubal chimed in, reciting his praise for Verlander: “The good ones like him post every year. It’s really hard to do, and he’s a guy that made it look easy,” Skubal said.
“I agree with him, though: I think the players that don’t ever get forgotten are the ones who win in big moments and the ones who have championships. He’s got championships, he’s got MVPs, he’s got Cy Youngs, and that’s what a Hall of Fame guy is.”
Tarik Skubal racked up 13 strikeouts in his first career complete game 👏
He hit 102.6 MPH on the radar on his last pitch! The fastest of the day and his career 😤
(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/atRaPlKOxF
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 25, 2025
Verlander certainly has all of that in his Hall of Fame career. The nine-time All-Star has won a pair of World Series, coming in 2017 and 2022, both with the Houston Astros. After being traded from the Tigers to the Astros in 2017, Verlander immediately won his first ring, even though the circumstances were less than ideal.
Skubal continued, “He set that standard pretty high, and that’s something that as a player you want to chase. You want to be considered in that same [air]. That’s the dream when you grow up.”
Along with his All-Star appearances and rings, Verlander has three career no-hitters. He won the Triple Crown in 2011, the year he won his first AL Cy Young award, an award he won again in 2019 and 2022. Notably, 2022 was the year Verlander, at 39 years old, won his second World Series while leading the AL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Age is clearly just a number, as Verlander was the Comeback Player of the Year.
Sadly for Skubal, he pitched in the Tigers’ game on May 25, just one day before the San Francisco Giants came to town. With Verlander on the injured list, there’s no chance the two pitchers could’ve faced each other anyway. That May 25 game was one for the record books as Skubal pitched a complete game, needing only 94 pitches to strike out 13 batters. He picked up his fifth win, improving to 5-2 on the season with a 2.49 ERA.
“That last game [from Skubal] was pretty special,” Verlander said. “Just listening from afar, hearing him finding his routine and getting comfortable and finding what works for him, I think that’s all really cool. I think that’s part of your process of becoming an elite big leaguer, just kind of identifying who you are.