The pitching Triple Crown champ earns the game’s highest accolade for pitchers.
Was there ever any doubt?
Since about the All-Star break, the name Tarik Skubal has felt almost synonymous with Cy Young Award winner. The Detroit Tigers ’ ace picked up where he left off in 2023, and then got even better, building the most masterful season of his career. In a year where the Tigers’ success as a whole was anything but guaranteed, Skubal’s emergence as the team leader both on the mound, the clubhouse, and in the media, was the foundation of an improbable stretch drive and postseason run.
And now, in addition to winning the 2024 pitching Triple Crown (leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts), Skubal can add the most prestigious of feathers to his cap as the Baseball Writers’ Association of American named him the 2024 American League Cy Young award winner on Wednesday, which also happens to be Skubal’s 28th birthday. Skubal got all 30 first place votes to win unanimously. He becomes the first major award winner for the Tigers since Michael Fulmer’s Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016, and the first Tigers’ Cy Young winner since Max Scherzer in 2013.
Skubal, his face set in a mask of resolve, took the mound every five games like clockwork in 2024, and in almost every single one of those games, he turned in a highlight reel-worthy performance. For a time, he was the only sure thing the pitching staff had going, as the Tigers churned through their bullpen and tested out rookies in the starting position, making Kevin Cash’s Opener look like a party trick as they created a whole starting rotation out of whoever happened to have a fresh arm on the bench that day. Whatever the circumstance or team outlook at a given point, Skubal’s dominance was the constant that gave the Tigers an identity and a foundation to build out from.
Tarik Skubal was the Tigers’ true north. You knew, tuning into those games, you were watching a pitcher that the team hadn’t seen the likes of since the 2012-2013 era, when the team was so stacked with powerhouse aces that opposing clubs were lucky to get a run on the board.
While any baseball writer will tell you that “wins don’t matter” in terms of measuring a player’s true skill, the fact that Skubal won 18 games in a Tigers season that was fairly shaky until mid-August says a lot about his abilities and the quality he brought to the team. He had a whopping 228 strikeouts (the best in all of baseball), often churning through opposing batters so quickly they were left standing at home plate wondering what had just happened to them. His 2.39 ERA and 2.50 FIP were career (and league) bests for him. Five years into his major league career, Skubal has climbed to the top of the game, and the best may be yet to come.
Much has been written about Skubal’s emergence as one of the game’s true aces over the past two seasons, and there will be plenty of analysis to come, but the key points are pretty simple. He emerged from his 2022 elbow flexor tendon surgery in absolutely monstrous condition in June of 2023, pumping high 90’s heat consistently, hitting 100 mph seemingly at will, and dominating right-handed hitters with a commitment to pitching inside that few pitchers possess. Armed with a new, seam-shifted wake changeup that rapidly developed into one of the game’s best offspeed pitches, he wielded those two weapons against hitters like the proverbial rock and a hard place. Skubal ramped up that aggressive mindset even more in 2024 to sustain that dominance for a full season, and that was all he needed to become the American League’s best pitcher.
What was particularly fascinating as his season of mastery progressed, was the way in which Skubal’s personality and presence also seemed to rise to the occasion. As the interview requests, podcast appearances, and spots on MLB Network shows started to pile up, we watched the Tigers ace grow more comfortable with the spotlight both on and off the field. More of his personality and charisma emerged, and he found his voice as a vocal leader for his young squad in the media. On the mound, Skubal let more and more of his competitive fire show through. The whole package became an intimidating challenge to all comers, and it was exhilarating to watch as a Tigers’ fan.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale took home the Cy Young award for the first time with a truly dominant season of his own. It’s the first Cy Young for the longtime White and then Red Sox ace, who received 26 of 30 first place votes. After finishing in the top 5 every year from 2013-2018, it’s pretty cool to see him win the big prize so deep into his career.
While it’s no surprise that Tarik Skubal walked away with the AL Cy Young Award tonight, it is a huge accolade to be celebrated, and a mile marker on the road of what one hopes to be a long and storied career.
Congratulations to Tarik Skubal, 2024 AL Cy Young award winner.