Tigers have perfect opportunity to send haters packing after Tarik Skubal injury

The Detroit Tigers got some awful news on Monday, when they announced ace Tarik Skubal is set to undergo elbow surgery. He is likely going to be out at least two to three months, which certainly hurts Detroit, but it also gives the team an opportunity to prove all of the haters wrong.

Many fans who want to tear down Detroit think that the Tigers have been propped up by Skubal the last few seasons. They have been to a certain extent, but the notion that the team will completely crumble without him is ludicrous.

Obviously, losing a great player for three months is not ideal, but if a team had to choose between losing a starting pitcher who takes the ball every five days or a star offensive player who is in the lineup everyday, they’d choose losing the pitcher.

Tigers have enough talent to withstand losing Skubal for a few months

The Tigers are built to withstand something like this. If Skubal was done for the season that would be a different story, but if the team can keep its head above water until he returns, it could actually help them. They could come out on the other end more confident as a group that knows they can overcome adversity.

Detroit is 18-18 on the season and are tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot in the American League Central. It’s not the exact start Detroit was hoping for, but the rest of their pitching staff will be able to carry the load.

The Framber Valdez signing looks even more genius now as the Tigers still have an ace in their rotation. The fact that both Casey Mize and Justin Verlander are currently on the shelf may make things a little hairy in the short term, but if they can get both of them back sometime this month, that will provide some more stability to the rotation.

The bullpen is a bit banged up as well. The pitching staff, which seemed like a huge strength coming into the year, is now a bit depleted. 

That just gives the Tigers more fuel to show that they can adopt a “next man up” mentality and remain competitive while they’re banged up.

Losing a star pitcher is never a good thing and no one in Detroit’s organization will be celebrating this news, but every setback has a silver lining and the Tigers can come out of Skubal’s absence in a strong position if they are able to hold down the fort while he's gone. 

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