Tarik Skubal injury update has Tigers fans wondering what even happened

Less than a week ago, the Detroit Tigers saw their playoff lives flash before their eyes as Tarik Skubal walked off the mound after throwing just 45 pitches at loanDepot Park in Miami.

The runaway favorite to win the American League Cy Young award for a second consecutive season, Skubal is also the Tigers' only hope for a deep postseason run. When he exited his start against the Marlins with left side tightness on Friday, fans began to fear the worst.

The Tigers faithful were able to exhale a bit after the game, when the team downplayed the severity of the injury, and again the following day when all of Skubal's tests came back negative. Then, they got one more piece of good news when Skubal completed his regular bullpen session on Monday in preparation for his next scheduled start on Thursday – a start that he is still on track to make, despite last week's injury scare.

"The sight of Tarik Skubal throwing off the mound was really awesome," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday on MLB Network Radio. "He threw his normal bullpen. We're going day by day. I'll check in with him today. We'll continue to inch towards his next start. Right now, that's penciled in for Thursday."

Tarik Skubal injury update has Tigers fans feeling relieved, but confused

Skubal leads the American League this season with a 2.26 ERA across 183 1/3 innings in 29 starts, recording 28 walks and 224 strikeouts. According to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Skubal threw with maximum effort during his bullpen session on Monday and "probably worked a little bit harder" than usual to ensure that he was fully healthy.

"Everything felt good," Skubal said Tuesday (via Petzold). "It's one of those weird things. I don't really know how to explain it. Bullpen went well. Scans came back good. It's on to the next one."

It does beg the question of what exactly happened to Skubal that caused him to feel pain in his side during his last start, but perhaps it's wise in this case not to ask questions or focus on hypotheticals. The worst-case scenario has been avoided, and the Tigers still have their ace at full health. Now, they'll have to hope that it stays that way into October. Let's just not get frightened like that again.