Tarik Skubal lit up Thursday’s bullpen session at Comerica Park, pumping fastballs at high velocity just 15 days after going under the knife on his elbow, according to The Athletic Detroit Tigers correspondent Cory Stavenhagen.
The successful throwing session by the Tigers’ back-to-back Cy Young Award winner confirmed what every Detroit fan has been waiting to hear, especially as Detroit faces the Cleveland Guardians Thursday desperate to end a five-game losing streak. In fact, the Tigers have lost 13 of their last 15 games, so they’ll take any good news they can get.
Skubal’s recovery is running significantly ahead of schedule, and the return clock is now ticking faster than almost anyone in baseball expected when he first hit the injured list.
Skubal threw 35 pitches in his third bullpen session since surgeons removed a loose body from his elbow earlier this month, according to Tigers beat reporter Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. He ramped up the effort level to simulate a real start, including reaching a target velocity at the end of the session that he confirmed he achieved. The ace left-hander was visibly fired up after throwing his final pitch of the rehab session.
Tarik Skubal Bullpen Details Bring Good News
Skubal didn’t share the precise velocity figure, but described it as “100 percent for a bullpen,” according to Stavenhagen, who tracked 37 pitches during the morning session and reported that Skubal walked off looking quite pleased with himself. The energy in his body language told the story before the quotes did.
“You got to prove to your body that it’s OK to throw hard again, especially being 15 days from surgery,” Skubal said, according to Stavenhagen.
The pace of this recovery has been striking even by the standards of minimally invasive elbow procedures. Just 16 days ago, the surgery hadn’t happened yet. Now Skubal is three bullpen sessions deep and throwing with full effort. Medical observers have taken notice — Dr. Jesse Morse, writing on social media, noted that state-of-the-art bone spur removal techniques using only a tiny incision are condensing recovery timelines dramatically, projecting a three- to four-week return window for Skubal after the procedure. The technology, as Morse put it, can now shave a month off a pitcher’s return.
Skubal’s Return Timeline: What Comes Next for the Detroit Tigers
A minor league rehab assignment will be mandatory before Skubal sets foot in a major league game. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch confirmed that requirement, according to MLB.com Tigers correspondent Jason Beck.
Skubal will likely need a formal rehab start as well as a simulated game against live hitters before Detroit activates him from the injured list. That step places him on the standard ramp-up path, but the velocity and intensity he showed Thursday suggest the next milestone is not far off.
Detroit placed Skubal on the injured list after he was scratched from a scheduled start roughly two weeks ago. The original timeline projected a four-to-six-week absence. If Thursday’s bullpen session is any measure, the low end of that window looks entirely realistic. Despite sitting a full 10 games under .500, the Tigers are only 4½ games out of an American League wild-card berth with 112 games left to play. Getting their ace back healthy obviously transforms the Tigers rotation in a way that will be absolutely necessary if the Tigers are going to get back to the postseason for a third straight year after nine years in the wilderness.
Tigers Get Massive Tarik Skubal Update Amid 5-Game Skid