Tarik Skubal’s 2025 season barely seems real. The 28-year-old pitcher has been one of the biggest reasons for the Detroit Tigers’ success. While the New York Mets recently passed Detroit for the best record in baseball, it hasn’t rattled a Tigers team that still holds a seven-game lead in the American League Central Division.
With the way Skubal is pitching, Detroit looks poised to stay in the driver’s seat the rest of the season.
Tarik Skubal Eyes the First 300K Season Since 2019
Both Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander recorded 300-plus strikeouts in 2019, with Verlander finishing with exactly 300 and Cole piling up 326—the most since Randy Johnson’s 334 in 2002.
Skubal is now striking out batters at a historic pace, with 95 punchouts in his last 11 starts. But just as impressive is the fact he’s issued only three walks during that span.
Tarik Skubal by start (2025):
Last —– 6 K, 0 BB Last 2 — 13 K, 0 BB Last 3 — 26 K, 0 BB Last 4 — 34 K, 1 BB Last 5 — 45 K, 2 BB Last 6 — 57 K, 2 BB Last 7 — 65 K, 2 BB Last 8 — 76 K, 2 BB Last 9 — 80 K, 3 BB Last 10 — 89 K, 3 BB Last 11 — 95 K, 3 BB
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) June 12, 2025
With 95 strikeouts to just three walks in his last 11 starts, no one else in baseball is doing it quite like Skubal. The lefty picked up his sixth win of the season on Friday, June 6, as the Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1. He’s scheduled to pitch again Thursday, June 12, in the team’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles.
After starting the season 0-2, there were questions about how solid the Tigers’ rotation really was. But Detroit continues to build around its starting pitching, with Skubal leading the way alongside Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. All three starters are under 30, but it’s Skubal who’s taken center stage.
He hasn’t walked a batter in his last three outings. His last walk came late in a start against the St. Louis Cardinals, meaning he’s now gone 24.1 innings without issuing a walk.
During that stretch, he’s allowed just one unearned run while striking out 26. Thirteen of those strikeouts came in his historic 94-pitch complete game against the Cleveland Guardians.
Oddly enough, his winning percentage this year is lower than it was last season. In 2024, Skubal made a career-high 31 starts and went 18-4. That nearly doubled his previous career best for wins—he went 8-12 in 2021. He earned more wins last year than he did in 2022 and 2023 combined.
His ERA hasn’t been over 2.80 since 2022, when he finished with a 3.52 mark. In 2023, he posted a 2.80 ERA, which dropped to 2.39 in 2024 and now sits at 2.16 in 2025.
Skubal’s 6-2 record ties Mize for the team lead in wins, though Skubal has started two more games and pitched 22.1 more innings. He also has 50 more strikeouts than Mize.