Baseball’s best pitcher?
Spaun leads U.S. Open. Oilers in dramatic win. Pacers-OKC tonight
Good morning, all!
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When I was growing up a great baseball argument used to be, if you could have one pitcher to pitch a deciding game for a series, pennant, World Series, who would it be? The answers would vary, depending on the era. Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, earlier Whitey Ford, were some of the names that came to mind.
Well, if you could have one pitcher today, who would it be? How about the Detroit Tigers Tarik Skubal, reigning American League Cy Young Award winner?
Skubal is following up his award-winning season with another stellar year. Thursday night, Skubal tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed the Baltimore Orioles three hits in the Tigers, 4-1 victory. He improved to 7-2 on the season.
Skubal’s numbers since early-April are off the charts, especially in an era where managers perform cartwheels, if their starting pitcher can work two times through the batting order. Since April 8 in 12 starts, he has struck out 101 and walked five. No, that is not a misprint. Repeat. He has walked just FIVE! In his last four starts, covering 30 2/3 innings, he has permitted one, repeat, ONE RUN! That computes to a 0.29 ERA.
The Detroit Tigers have the best record in the AL and are just a one-half game worse than the Mets - who have fattened up on weak teams - for the game’s overall best mark. Skubal is a big reason why. Watching him pitch harkens back to memorable times and is why, if I was looking for that one pitcher to pitch THE game, Skubal would be my choice.
Here are some other DAN ON SPORTS top stories for Friday, June 13, 2025! Yikes! It’s FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH!
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DAN