DETROIT – Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal has been unanimously named Tiger of the Year.
Skubal, following one of the best seasons by a pitcher in Detroit Tigers history, achieved the award unanimously as voted by members of the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Friday (Nov. 8).
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The 27-year-old was drafted in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB draft out of Seattle University, where he honed his craft, which led to dominating his competition in his fourth full year at the show.
The southpaw, who is scheduled to win the American League Cy Young Award, led the AL in wins (18), earned run average (2.39), fielding independent pitching (2.51), on-base plus slugging against (.558), strikeouts (228), and strikeout rate (30.3%) while ranking tied for third in walk rate (4.6%), and tied for fifth in home run rate (2.0%).
Skubal’s 18 wins were the most by a Tigers pitcher since mix-matched eyes pitcher and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (18) did it in 2014.
The lefty also achieved the second-lowest ERA (2.39) for the Tigers in the last 50 seasons, behind only Mark (The Bird) Fidrych’s 2.34 in 1976.
Skubal also joined Tigers Cy Young winner and World Series Champion Justin Verlander (2009, 2010) as the only pitcher in franchise history since 1971 to accumulate at least 5.9 Fangraphs' calculation of wins above replacement in an age of 27-or-younger season.
During the magical 2024 season, Skubal earned the Triple Crown in the American League, becoming the first player to do so since Shane Bieber in 2020 and the first to win it in a full season since Verlander in 2011.
The only pitcher besides Skubal and Verlander for the Tigers to win the AL Pitching Triple Crown was Hal Newhouser in 1945.
Skubal’s dominance led the Tigers past the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series.
He led the Tigers to one game away from playing in the American League Championship Series but fell short while taking the mound in a win-or-go-home game five road duel vs. divisional rival Cleveland Guardians.
The Detroit chapter of the BBWAA has selected a Tiger of the Year each season since 1965.
This is the 15th time a pitcher has earned the honor, with Skubal being the most recent since Matthew Boyd in 2019.
