Tarik Skubal injury update is a breath of fresh air for Tigers fans

Even though Tarik Skubal's last few starts of the season won't line up with two of the Tigers' toughest series left on the calendar, the last thing a team in this precarious a playoff position needs is to lose their ace and future Cy Young-winning starter. If the Tigers can make it out of the Orioles-Royals-Orioles sandwich that starts this weekend, they'll still need Skubal to finish strong against the Rays.

In the top of the sixth in his Thursday start against the Rockies, Skubal took a comebacker off the bat of Brenton Doyle to his non-pitching hand, and Tigers fans held their breaths. Although Skubal made the play after a bobble, he was visited on the mound by AJ Hinch and a trainer, who allowed him to stay and close out the inning, but he didn't come back out for the seventh.

Then there was the dreaded holding period, where fans had to wait for the team do their usual check-ins and tests while keeping fingers crossed to hear about negative X-rays.

Thankfully, although he's scheduled for further tests, Skubal's X-rays were negative for any signs of damage.

Tarik Skubal gets good news after taking a line drive to the hand against the Rockies

Hinch said after the game, "When we were out on the field, he couldn't feel much, which is pretty scary [...] It hurt, I know that. It's still a wait and see, although the initial tests are positive." Skubal also said he was sore but felt fine, and that he wasn't "too worried about it."

With the eventual loss against Colorado on Thursday, the Tigers are 75-72, 3.5 games behind the Twins, who have won their last two games. Per FanGraphs, Detroit's playoff odds increased to 11.1% after their Wednesday win against the Rockies, but they fell back to 7.1% after their loss the next day and Minnesota's win.

Hope is very much not dead. If the Tigers can squeak out a couple wins from the Orioles this weekend, it'll be even clearer that this team means business. Although Skubal won't be seeing the Orioles, losing your star ace isn't great for team morale.

So we'll remain optimistic that the next scans are more about protocol and procedure than something to worry about. The Tigers are still in it, and Skubal needs to be in this fight for the last two weeks of the season.