Tigers’ Tarik Skubal in a league of his own with new ranking of MLB’s best pitchers

Tarik Skubal has been taking spring training very seriously. In his last start against the Phillies on Saturday, he pitched five innings and gave up two runs while striking out seven, which seems like about as close to a regular season start as one could expect to see in a spring game.

He's pitched 13 1/3 innings total through four appearances for a 2.70 ERA with 15 strikeouts, and he's turned his velocity up to over 100 MPH while showing off all of his pitches. Skubal's 2024 season seemed like it was one of a kind, but he certainly looks like he's trying to top himself in 2025 and leave no room for doubt that he's the best pitcher in baseball.

Not that anyone really needs convincing. The Athletic has run a "Rankings & Tiers" series for the last six seasons, and they kicked it off again this year with a tier of baseball's top starting pitchers. It polls 20 anonymous experts "with expertise in scouting, player development and analytics" and asks them to rank pitchers into five tiers.

Jack Flaherty appears in the fifth tier; guys like Shota Imanaga and Roki Sasaki are in the fourth; Dylan Cease and George Kirby represent the third; and Paul Skenes and Garrett Crochet are in the second.

And in Tier 1, all by himself, is Skubal.

The Athletic's anonymous survey of 20 experts unanimously named Tigers' Tarik Skubal the best pitcher in baseball

Some of The Athletic's anonymous respondents said of Skubal, "[He] might be the best in the sport right now," and "An ace in any era," and asked, "You have access to his Baseball Savant, right?"

That Baseball Savant page is covered in red for his work during the 2024 season. The only thing that isn't elite or touching elite is his "extension", but that didn't seem to hurt his overall pitching run value of 100. It also shows major improvements on his breaking pitches from 2023 to 2024, and consistency on his unwillingness to walk batters.

Last year, Skubal tied at No. 23 with Dylan Cease and Grayson Rodriguez ahead of the season following an injury-shortened 2023, but his rocket to the top this year is a complete no-brainer. If he can stay healthy again this season, there's every reason to believe that he's going to have another massive year on the mound and lead the Tigers' rotation into battle. Now, the club just needs to start working on that extension in earnest.