Tigers succeeding in spite of Tarik Skubal trade rumors makes run even more impressive

This whole season has felt like one big distraction for the Detroit Tigers. They ended last season with a clear No. 1 priority on the to-do list: re-sign Tarik Skubal. It didn’t happen during the offseason, which would have been ideal, and the fact that it carried over into the regular season did nothing but create distractions for the team.

Skubal wasn’t playing his best baseball as a Tiger and the team was at the bottom of the AL Central for much of the season.

Since Skubal was traded, however, Detroit has looked like an entirely different team, putting together a 6-2 record in August entering Tuesday's game. They’re also outscoring opponents 53-6 in that span. They’ve been averaging nearly seven runs per game and they’ve won two games 11-0 and two more 8-0 since the trade on Aug. 1.

The Tigers went on impressive runs in June and July, managing to keep their season afloat despite an awful month of May that spurred Skubal trade rumors, which served as a distraction. It's hard to deny it put more pressure on the team, too. But the Tigers remained resilient.

Anyone who has watched the team since that trade has to realize just how much better and looser the team has been playing. The Tigers are playing much more freely and they look like a team with the weight of the world off their shoulders. Is that just a coincidence? The Skubal rumors definitely had something to do with the team being more distracted than AJ Hinch would’ve liked.

Obviously, no clubhouse wants to lose a core player and team leader, but no longer having to answer questions about if that player will be around in a month or two has been an uplifting experience for the Tigers.

Other Tigers are stepping up in Tarik Skubal’s place after deadline trade

The Tigers' starters have not missed a beat despite the staff losing its ace. In fact, they have propelled Detroit to the best rotation ERA in the sport.

Keider Montero, Troy Melton, Framber Valdez, and Jackson Jobe all showed that they’re more than capable of leading a playoff-caliber rotation. Each of those starters has a shutout this month.

Melton is showcasing legitimate ace-level stuff and has an absolutely insane 1.46 ERA this season. He has flown under the radar while everyone else has been talking about Skubal. And now that he’s the guy, he’s looking more than capable of leading the team into October.

It’s not just the arms that have been stepping up, the bats have been on fire.

Detroit has scored 8+ runs five times in August already and in eight of the team’s past 12 games. The Tigers have gone from fourth place in the Central all the way to second within 2.5 games of the first-place White Sox and one game back in the Wild Card race.

It all just happened to be bad luck. The team was decimated by injuries during the first half, with Skubal being one of the casualties. It got ugly, but the Tigers never truly fell apart. They persevered, injected some more youth into the roster, and have been flying ever since. When all is said and done, we could be looking at another magical 2024 run.

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