Reunited in Detroit, Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty continue to push each other

LAKELAND, Fla.

On days he does not pitch, Tarik Skubal offers a special greeting to the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher.

Happy Start Day! the reigning American League Cy Young award winner will say, even if the starter is an opener.

Nice gesture, right? Cool little bonding moment? For most pitchers, sure.

But not for everyone, as Skubal learned last season before Jack Flahertys Tigers debut.

Advertisement He looked me right in the face and didnt say a word back to me, Skubal said.

I go, All right, I got it.

Ill stay out of your way.

Skubal said Flaherty is, the guy everyone talks about, (wearing) headphones, will not respond.

Flaherty confirmed as much without hesitation, saying Skubal is much more approachable on his start days.

Pregame demeanors aside, Skubal and Flaherty are more similar than different, starting with their difficult, injury-marred paths to success.

They grew close during the first half of last season, pushing each other, learning from each other.

Skubal was intensely disappointed when the Tigers traded Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline and quite excited when Flaherty returned to the Tigers last month on a two-year, $35 million free-agent contract, with an opt-out after one year.

I just didnt think we were in the market for starting pitching, to be honest, Skubal said.

But whatever.

Im happy hes on our team.

The pairing of the left-handed Skubal, 28, and right-handed Flaherty, 29, demonstrates how one veteran can help another, providing intangible value even to a team with low expectations, the kind of team Detroit was at the start of last season.

Their reunion comes with the Tigers in a much different place, coming off a shocking run that resulted in their first postseason appearance since 2014.

With Skubal and Flaherty reunited at the top of a rotation that also will include Reese Olson and possibly top prospect Jackson Jobe and comeback candidate Casey Mize, the Tigers collection of starters could evolve into one of the games most dominant.

They both are obsessed with preparation.

They both are obsessed with routines.

They both are obsessed with trying to find ways to get better, Tigers manager AJ Hinch said of Skubal and Flaherty.

From the very beginning last year, they were attached.

Advertisement Flaherty, who began his career with the St.

Louis Cardinals, first took note of Skubal when the Tigers came to Busch Stadium in August 2021.

Skubal struck out 10 in five innings that day, allowing his only runs on solo homers by Paul Goldschmidt.

We were all kind of like, This guys got legit stuff, Flaherty said.

Skubal underwent flexor tendon surgery on his elbow a year later.

He did not return until July 2023.

Flaherty also was trying to reestablish himself at that time, after two seasons of dealing with oblique and shoulder issues.

When the Cardinals traded him to the Baltimore Orioles at the deadline, the move proved a disappointment.

At the end of that season, in his first crack at free agency, Flaherty signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers.

Pitching in the same rotation as Skubal was part of the appeal.

Some Tigers people told Flaherty, You and Skub are going to get along.

Hes a workhorse.

Hes dialed into everything he does.

Flaherty kept mostly to himself at first, but earned Skubals immediate respect with his adherence to his routine, which includes writing in a journal.

Over time, Flaherty opened up, showing both his fun and competitive sides, Skubal said.

Sure enough, the two developed a relationship.

Skubal would ask Flaherty about his slider, only to lament, We dont move the same.

Our slots are different, velocities are different.

I still watch it and go, I can do that.

Then I try to do it and I cant do it.

Flaherty, in turn, asked Skubal about his changeup, saying, Id love to throw 100 with a changeup he has.

Alas, Flaherty acknowledged, Were different pitchers.

I cant do the same things he can.

What Flaherty came to admire most about Skubal is the way the lefty attacked hitters.

Skubal led the AL with a 2.39 ERA last season in part because he also was tops in first-strike percentage, and fifth in the majors overall.

Advertisement It reminds you of Kershaw when he was at his best and even still now, Flaherty said.

Its strike one, strike two, coming right at you.

Flaherty ranked only 45th overall in first-strike percentage among qualifying pitchers.

But Skubal noticed Flaherty, too, was always on the attack, regardless of the count or situation.

Flahertys 29.9 percent strikeout rate for the season matched his career high.

His 5.9 percent walk rate was a career low.

And both those percentages were even better before his trade to the Dodgers.

The Tigers entered the deadline four games below .500 and 6 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.

They scratched Flaherty from his final scheduled start, not wanting to take chances with a pitcher who received two injections to relieve lower back pain in a span of three weeks, the first on June 10, the second on July 2.

The day of the deadline, the Tigers hosted Cleveland.

The game began at 1:10 p.m.

ET and ended at 3:30.

The deadline was at 6.

I made the decision not to go home, Flaherty said.

I just hung out in the locker room, partially because I didnt want to drive home and then drive back if I was traded.

(Skubal) stuck around.

We played some cards.

We BSd for a while.

Eventually he left and I think I got traded like 30 minutes later.

The deal worked out well for the Tigers.

One of the players they acquired, Trey Sweeney, joined the team on Aug.

16 and quickly took over as their starting shortstop.

The other, catcher Thayron Liranzo, is the No.

4 prospect in the games seventh-ranked system , according to The Athletics Keith Law.

Skubal, though, said he hates losing any teammate at the deadline.

He longs to be in a situation, maybe this season, when his club is adding, not subtracting.

The whole thing shook out weird, too, he said.

We were out of it.

We didnt want to throw him.

But he was still on the roster, so we were burning relievers and guys were getting taxed a ton.

Advertisement The story, at least, had a happy ending a few of them, actually.

The Tigers, riding a strategy Hinch described as, Skubal and pitching chaos, went a stunning 34-20 after the deadline, then swept the Houston Astros in the wild-card round before falling to the Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series.

Flaherty, the Dodgers Game 1 starter in both the National League Championship Series and World Series, wound up with a championship ring.

Next came Flahertys second go-round at free agency.

He lingered on the open market, perhaps because teams wanted to see him put together back-to-back strong seasons before committing to him long-term.

Every so often, Skubal would reach out to him, by text, FaceTime or phone, and ask: Youre not coming back, are you? On Feb.

2, Skubal got his answer.

Flaherty texted him before word of his surprising agreement with the Tigers became public.

At first, Skubal did not believe him.

Then he asked Flaherty if he could break the news on social media.

Flaherty said no, give it another 30 minutes.

And like 10 minutes later, it was out, Skubal said.

I was like, (man), I could have been the guy for you.

Actually, Skubal was the guy, just not in the way he envisioned.

At 7:53 that night, Flaherty sent out a series of three posts on X.

The last was a photograph of Flaherty with his back to the camera at Comerica Park, wearing his Tigers No.

9.

The one before included a photo of Tupac Shakur in a Detroit Red Wings jersey and another of Dennis Rodman with his arm wrapped around Isiah Thomas, celebrating a Detroit Pistons NBA title.

But the initial post, the one that gave the first indication Flaherty was rejoining the Tigers? It was a GIF of Skubal, arms spread wide while coming off the mound in Cleveland during the DS, gesturing to the crowd with his fingers, bring it.

pic.twitter.com/uqqPZWJx3q Jack Flaherty (@jflare_) February 3, 2025 Happy Start Day! Jack was back.

(Photo of Jack Flaherty and Tarik Skubal: Junfu Han / USA Today Network via Imagn Images).

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