Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander enter rarified air as Tigers field their best rotation in years

Ever since the Detroit Tigers brought Justin Verlander back into the fold, it has been fascinating to watch him and Tarik Skubal interact. Verlander was the former ace in Detroit and Skubal is the current ace, but together, along with Framber Valdez and others, they help comprise the best Tigers rotation in recent memory.

Jayson Stark of The Athletic shared an interesting stat in a recent article. He looked at pitching duos on the same team in the last 30 years in which one pitcher had three Cy Young Awards and the other pitcher had two upon becoming teammates. Verlander and Skubal join the likes of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, and Clayton Kershaw and Blake Snell.

Verlander and Skubal join rare company as teammates on Tigers

It is a pretty rare tandem to be a part of, and Skubal can now lean upon the one of the best pitchers of the previous generation as he strives to become the best pitcher of his generation, competing with guys like Paul Skenes.

Skubal wants to be one of the greats and he is already on that trajectory. He is coming off winning his second consecutive American League Cy Young Award, and it wouldn't shock anyone if he won a third this season. If he did, he would tie Verlander, which would be pretty remarkable considering Verlander got his third at the age of 39, itself an impressive feat that speaks to the 43-year-old's longevity.

Personal accolades are all well and good, but for this season at least Verlander and Skubal are aligned in their pursuit of trying to bring a World Series title to the city of Detroit. They can do it if their rotation stays healthy. No team would want to face Skubal, Valdez, Verlander, and Casey Mize or Jack Flaherty in a playoff series, so if the rotation stays fairly healthy and the lineup is even just average, that could be enough to make a run.

In all likelihood, this will be the only year that Skubal and Verlander are on the same team. Skubal seems destined for a record-breaking contract after this season and Verlander could very well end up retiring after this season. It would put a "full-circle" sort of bow on what has been a tremendous career.

Verlander is going to be in the Hall of Fame someday and, at his current pace, Skubal is on his way there as well. Even though Skubal is already elite, he can still learn things from Verlander and could potentially get even better, if that's possible. Maybe the stars will align and both pitchers have a great season as they lead the Tigers to a deep playoff run.