Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal will pitch against his former team, the Detroit Tigers, on Friday, August 28th.
Dave Roberts announced the news as Skubal’s turn in the rotation comes during a road trip to Detroit, Skubal’s home park for the entire part of his career.
The decision comes amid a lot of emotion for Skubal over the past few weeks, after leaving the only team he had known until he joined the Dodgers.
Given all of the emotions, it was going to be interesting to see if he would indeed pitch against his beloved team, but now that he is with LA, Skubal is seemingly ready to face his former team at their ballpark.
During his exit press conference for the Tigers, Skubal needed a minute to collect his thoughts and there was visible pain in his expression as he left.
“It’s tough,” he said with his voice cracking. “I love all those guys in there. They’re some of my best friends.”
Even though it is still a regular-season game, facing his former team will be a major test for the Dodgers’ star.
Why facing the Tigers will be hard for Tarik Skubal
Skubal, even though the Tigers traded him for the health of their franchise since he was almost guaranteed to walk, will always have a special appreciation for his former team.
“I’m very appreciative of all the things the Tigers did for me,” he said. “Drafting me in 2018, giving a kid a chance out of a small school, and giving me every resource to use. Everything has always been at my disposal.
“They’ve always had answers and a plan for me, so yeah — I feel like I’ve experienced a lot and gone through a lot of failure early in my career, and this club never stopped believing in me.
“They kept throwing me back out there every fifth day when I probably didn’t deserve it. That’s something I’ll never take for granted.”
