What kind of reception will Tarik Skubal receive in Detroit during Tigers-Dodgers series?

It's official: Tarik Skubal will return to the mound at Comerica Park on Friday, as a Dodger. He'll kick off a three-game series against the Tigers, followed by Blake Snell and a pitcher yet to be determined, though there's reason to believe it'll be Shohei Ohtani as an opener followed by either former Blue Jay Eric Lauer or Tyler Glasnow.

Any series against the Dodgers was always going to be one for Tigers fans to dread, but Skubal taking the mound against his former team will set the tone for the rest of this series. If he dominates — and, odds are, he will — that doesn't bode well for a lineup that then has to face another two-time Cy Young winner and then the best player in baseball.

No doubt Tigers players will be bombarding with questions as to their feelings on Skubal's return. Their answers are already predictable: "It'll be emotional, and we all miss him, but we just have to get out there are do our jobs like it's any other game."

It probably won't be so easy for Tigers fans to flush it and move on, but what kind of reception awaits him at Comerica?

Tarik Skubal will return to Comerica in first start against the Tigers with Dodgers

The Tigers will almost certainly have a video package prepared to salute to Skubal and let him tip his cap to his former fanbase. The way the former fanbase reacts might be a little mixed.

The way Tigers fans on Twitter would tell it, Skubal is dead to all of us. Though it wasn't his choice to be traded, he had opportunities to try to negotiate a fair extension with Detroit. (Whether or not the Tigers would've been willing to give him a fair price usually goes unaddressed by this contingent.)

There will surely be a few of them at the game on Friday. We'll probably hear a couple of boos mixed in with the applause. But the overwhelming response should be applause.

Some Tigers fans have been far too quick to dismiss what Skubal did for this team for over six years. While there may have been some grief mixed in — caused by Skubal himself, sometimes — he was the star of this team when they dragged themselves out of the muck after seven straight losing seasons. He still means something to this team and this city, and he deserves a reception that reflects that.

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