Tigers already have injury concern with pitcher from Dodgers in Tarik Skubal trade

It might take years for Tigers fans to be able to say definitively whether or not the Tarik Skubal trade was a success, but Detroit's not off to the hottest start.

River Ryan underwent Tommy John in 2024, and other injuries have limited him to just eight starts in Triple-A this season. He's currently on Toledo's IL with a hamstring strain. Zyhir Hope is hitting just .077 with a .379 OPS in his first 10 games in Double-A Erie. It would be a mistake to dismiss him outright, given how good he's been this season, but it's certainly not a reassuring introduction to the organization.

Brady Smith, the lottery ticket the Dodgers threw in at the back end of the deal, pitched a decent first start at High-A West Michigan, giving up two runs in five innings, but he was pulled from his Saturday outing after just 1 1/3 innings with apparent arm discomfort.

Smith appeared to be shaking out his elbow as the Whitecaps' trainer came out to check on him, and he exited after a short delay on the mound. Smith is in just his second professional season after being taken by the Dodgers in the third round of the 2023 draft.

He spent the entirety of the 2024 season on the ACL Dodgers' full-season IL after undergoing Tommy John soon after he was drafted.

Tarik Skubal return piece Brady Smith leaves Tigers High-A game with apparent arm injury

Smith posted a 3.88 ERA in Single-A before being promoted to the Dodgers' Great Lakes Loons, where he pitched just two starts and gave up eight earned runs before being traded to the Tigers. Perhaps unfairly, he was an easy target for criticism after Skubal was dealt. After all, this didn't exactly match up with all of the trade packages fans had dreamt up.

But his first start in the Tigers' organization was encouraging, and the fact that he's only in High-A meant that the jury would be out for a long time.

It still will be, even if the Whitecaps end up announcing the worst possible news — any kind of surgery, really — that could end the rest of his 2026 season.

Unsurprisingly, there are already Tigers fans overreacting to this news as if injuries can't happen to any player at any time. If this does end up being a serious injury, it's a tough break for Smith, but it's still far too early to write him off entirely.

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