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Tigers ace Tarik Skubal already has eyes on the AL Cy Young award tigers,ace,tarik,skubal,already,has,eyes,on,the,al,cy,young,award,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb,dot-com-grid-coverage

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The past 10 seasons for the Detroit Tigers has been a bit of a journey in the wilderness. The 2014 season ended up being the end of an era for the Tigers, as their four-year run of playoff appearances from 2011 through 2014 ended with two ALCS appearances and an American League Pennant victory in 2012. Once that window closed for Detroit, it slammed shut and outside of one winning season in 2016 that saw the Tigers come up three games short of earning a Wild Card spot, there hasn’t been much to get excited about for fans of the hometown team in the Motor City.

As of right now, the Tigers have a tough road ahead of them if they’re planning on returning to October baseball. They’re a distant fourth in the AL Central with their divisional rivals Kansas City and Minnesota currently occupying two of the three Wild Card spots in the AL. They are 33-35 and 3.5 games behind in the race for the final and are currently lumped in with the Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays when it comes to owning similar winning percentages. This is a long season with plenty of peaks and valleys but Detroit still a bit of an outside contender at this point – FanGraphs’ playoff odds is giving the Tigers a 12 percent shot at making the Postseason as a Wild Card with their overall odds of making the playoffs in general at 15 percent.

Needless to say, the Tigers aren’t exactly the favorites to upset the apple cart in baseball this season. With that being said, there’s one very good reason to pay attention to what Detroit has going on this season and that’s the mound exploits of Tarik Skubal. Skubal is coming off of a 2022 season that saw him establish himself as a bonafide major league starter with an ERA- of 90 and a FIP- of 75 over 117.2 innings. He followed that up by emerging as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball despite missing the first three months of the 2023 season due to a flexor tendon injury that ended his 2022 campaign. Once Skubal did finally return to the mound on July 4, 2023, he hit the ground running and wasted no time in establishing himself as a true ace. When I say that he was one of the best pitchers in baseball last season, I mean it – Skubal led all pitchers in fWAR with 3.3 after he returned to the mound, with Spencer Strider in second place after he produced 2.8 fWAR over that same span.

With all this in mind, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Tarik Skubal has emerged as a Cy Young candidate now that he’s been fully healthy here in 2024. As good as Skubal was to finish the 2023 season, he’s been even better this season. Skubal finished 2023 with an ERA- of 65 and a FIP- of 47 and both of those numbers are well above average when it comes to starting pitchers. He’s on track to leave those numbers in the dust here in 2024, as he’ll be heading into his start tonight against the Astros with an ERA- of 49 and a FIP- of 54. He’ll also be heading into Houston coming off of his most recent start where he made it through 6.2 innings with five hits and two walks for a grand total of just one run allowed and 10 strikeouts to boot. It was also the 11th time in 13 starts this season where the 27-year-old lefty gave up two runs or less. Needless to say, this man has been absolutely dealing all season.

What makes Tarik Skubal so incredibly tough to deal with is the fact that he’s got five pitches in his bag of tricks and batters have zero idea as to how to actually consistently hit his stuff. His best pitch has been his four-seam fastball and it’s a pitch that has slowly-but-surely been ramping up in velocity over the course of his career. He may have finally peaked in velocity in his most recent start, where he hit 101.7 mph on the radar gun. As this article from Jason Beck of MLB.com mentioned, it was one of the fastest pitches thrown by a starter this season and it was part of a deliberate effort on his part to ramp up his velocity on his heater. With that being said, it’s not just his fastball that hitters have to worry about. His sinker has been sitting at 96 mph – the same speed as his average fastball. Hitters have been bewitched by both pitches, as evidenced by the opposition batting average of .205 against his sinker and .169 against his fastball.

Opposing hitters haven’t fared well against his other three pitches, either. His changeup is his second-most used pitch behind his fastball and hitters are only hitting .223 against it. He also has a slider that he’s commonly used and it only has a .194 batting average against it. Finally, he’s thrown 57 knuckle curveballs this season and you are not going to find a video of anybody getting a hit against it so far in 2024. That’s right: The opposing batting average against his knuckle curve is .000. Granted, it does have an Expecting Batting Average of .243 but the good news for Skubal is that that xBA is by far the highest of any of his four pitches – his fastball has an xBA of .205, his changeup’s xBA is at .219, the sinker is at .191 and the slider’s xBA is microscopic at .161. Simply put, it hasn’t really mattered what Tarik Skubal has been throwing out there – opposing hitters have had an absolute devil of a time trying to deal with any one of them.

If Skubal needs to miss a bat, his changeup (45 percent whiff rate) and slider (35 percent whiff rate) have been his go-to in that regard. If he needs an out, any one of his four main pitches will do as his highest Put Away percentage lies at 31 percent with his changeup while the lowest of those four pitches is 21 percent with his four-seamer. He’s got nasty stuff in his arsenal and he’s throwing all of his pitches with a ton of confidence at the moment. Taking all of this into account, it’s easy to understand why he’s starting to get attention and even early talks of Cy Young Award contention here in June.

There are also surely some rumors floating around that Tarik Skubal could be traded at the deadline but those rumors appear to simply be rumors. Either way, Skubal isn’t the type of pitcher that should be traded if you’re a team that still harbors any type of playoff hopes. Jim Bowden of The Athletic stated that while the Tigers may listen to offers on the likes of Jack Flaherty, Skubal’s going nowhere.

Again, while the Tigers aren’t exactly near the top of the standings, they still figure to be right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the Wild Card chase and as long as that’s the case, Skubal should remain in a Tigers uniform. If the Tigers are going to return to Postseason relevancy in the near future, then that likely requires having Skubal still in a Tigers uniform while they make their return to October. Detroit has a gem at the top of their rotation and this could very well be the season where the entire baseball world becomes extremely aware of Tarik Skubal and what he can do on the mound.

Three top bets for the combat sports weekend three,top,bets,for,the,combat,sports,weekend,sbnation,com,front-page,mma,ufc,draftkings,golf-news,dot-com-grid-coverage

Three top bets for the combat sports weekend threetopbetsforthecombatsportsweekendsbnationcomfront pagemmaufcdraftkingsgolf newsdot com grid coverage
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A busy combat sports weekend looms as on Saturday, Gervonta Davis puts his WBA lightweight title on the line against undefeated challenger Frank Martin and UFC Vegas 93 takes place with a high-profile flyweight matchup between top-15 competitors Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira.

With so much happening this weekend, we broke down our three favorite bets for the weekend. All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Gervonta Davis by Decision or Technical Decision (+260)

Davis is an elite counter-puncher in the mold of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s got good vision and defense, and a preternatural sense of range, allowing him to draw out punches at the end of range and land his power shots, particularly his left hook. That left hook, plus a commitment to body work early and often, makes Tank an excellent finisher with 27 of his 29 wins coming by way of stoppage.

As such, this is a big step up for Martin. Martin is fast, technical, and defensively tight, with good footwork. He’s not a huge volume boxer, but he’s good at blocking incoming artillery and then ripping the body in response. The problem is he’s not a huge puncher, and he’s facing someone who is. That makes the margin for error much smaller.

I like Martin as a fighter, but he’s facing an uphill battle in this one. That being said, I do think he has a good chance to make this a fight. Davis is not a fast starter and Martin is so quick and defensively that at the very least he’s going to make Tank work for it. Add in that Tank’s been out of action for over a year, and I think this one goes long in a bout that might not be the most thrilling to watch.

UFC Fight Night: Taira v Hernandez

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Tatsuro Taira To Win By KO/TKO/DQ or Submission (+100)

The UFC main event this Saturday is set up to be the arrival of Japan’s best MMA prospect. Taira is only 24 years old and has all the trappings of a future champion. The Okinawa native is an elite athlete, lethal grappler, and developing striker with natural power. Taira has dominated in his five UFC fights which is why he’s getting this shot at a top-five opponent.

Alex Perez has been a staple of the UFC’s flyweight division since 2017, even challenging for the title in 2020. Things didn’t go well for Perez that night, which has sort of been the story of his career: losing whenever he faces the best opposition. This is Perez’s second shot to rebuff an emerging wunderkind (he lost to Muhammad Mokaev in March) and to prove he’s still in the mix for title contention.

This should be a straightforward win for Taira. He’s the superior grappler and the far better athlete, and can compete on the feet, if not win outright there. The main questions is how will he win? Historically, when Perez loses it’s by submission, and while that seems to be the most likely outcome, I’m not ruling out Taira showing off his improving hands.

UFC Fight Night: Van v Bunes

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Joshua Van (+170)

Originally this was going to be a bet on Ikram Aliskerov, but late on Thursday, Aliskerov was pulled from the event this weekend to step in on short notice and fight Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia next Saturday. In light of that, we’re pivoting to a prelim underdog.

Van takes on top-15 flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov in the featured prelim fight of on Saturday. Only 22 years old, this is a huge step up for the super prospect but one he’s got a realistic shot at winning. Ulanbekov is a big, experienced flyweight who has only lost to top-shelf competition, but he’s not the most dynamic fighter. Van has that in spades. Moreover, Van has shown good takedown defense and good scrambling ability when he does get taken down, meaning Ulanbekov shouldn’t totally have his way.

If Van can continue to show the sort of rapid improvement he’s shown the last few times out, a new contender will emerge on Saturday.

All information in this article is provided to readers for entertainment, news, and amusement purposes only. It is the responsibility of the reader to learn and abide by online gambling laws in their region before placing any online sports betting wagers.

Caitlin Clark doesn’t want to be held responsible for the worst takes about her caitlin,clark,doesn,t,want,to,be,held,responsible,for,the,worst,takes,about,her,sbnation,com,front-page,wnba,womens-sports,all-womens-sports,wnba-content,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Media sessions have been a crowded event for the Fever this season, but it’s had little to do with the on-court performance of one of the league’s worst teams. Instead, it’s often been about Caitlin Clark and the storylines that have followed her, from Chennedy Carter’s hard foul to the rookie sensation being left off Team USA.

Thursday was no different. Cameras flocked to Gainbridge Fieldhouse not because the Fever were returning home for the first time in two weeks, but because of another storyline about Clark away from the court.

During Fever shootaround on Thursday morning in Indiana, Clark was asked by Jim Trotter of The Athletic for her thoughts on her name being used in “culture wars” that have largely sparked up recently after she was left off the U.S. Olympic roster heading to Paris, creating a firestorm of reactions from fans to politicians alike.

While her response to questions about that could be viewed as an attempt to avoid further stoking the flames, it didn’t do much to smother them, either.

Clark has reiterated multiple times throughout her rookie season that she is both not on social media, and does not communicate much with those around the league, outside of former Iowa teammate Kate Martin. Her focus has been on her Fever teammates and working on improving on the court.

But if one felt like that answer left something to be desired, they weren’t alone. In fact, Dijonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun took particular issues with Clark’s response and tweeted about it.

To be clear — and to push back on some more bad faith narratives — not every WNBA player feels that way. In an appearance on “Podcast P with Paul George,” Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally offered empathy for Clark.

“It’s really, really hard to put that much pressure on a young woman to be a spokesperson for things that the United States, and really globally and historically, we have struggled with as an entire society,” Sabally said. “Can you talk about white privilege? Yes you can. But do you have to be the spokesperson for that? I don’t think so. If that doesn’t come from her, I think it’s unfair to put that burden on someone.”

It’s also entirely believable that Clark hasn’t seen much of the debate or culture wars surrounding her name, considering how little she says she is on social media. But it’s also entirely fair to expect more out of her in denouncing any sort of bigotry as well.

While Clark may not be responsible for how her name is used, it’s also naive to ignore how it’s been used and what has happened to those who have fallen into her orbit this season. Even if Clark doesn’t regularly use social media, the likes of the Sky’s Chennedy Carter and Carrington, who also went somewhat viral on Monday in her game against the Fever after mocking Clark following a foul call, do.

And those players have been subjected to some of the most extreme nastiness that comes with being online. They’ve been the ones that have dealt with the racism and bigotry that Carrington tweeted about. The Sky, for example, had a man wait outside their hotel to harass them as they exited the bus just days after Carter’s hard foul against Clark.

Even Clark’s teammate Aliyah Boston found herself in the crossfire. After struggling to start the season, Boston deleted her social media off her phone due to all the hate levied her way.

All of this has long since crossed the line past normal basketball discourse to become something much worse. Chiney Ogwumike, a former WNBA player turned analyst for ESPN, has offered impassioned pleas on multiple occasions, speaking out against the polarization around the league. The conversation has veered away from sports and into far more serious discussions about race, gender and sexuality, with Clark’s name right at the center of many of them.

Clark didn’t ask to be involved in so much of this. She didn’t ask to be fouled by Carter. She didn’t ask to be left off Team USA. And she isn’t asking for her name to be used in those aforementioned culture wars, either.

But while Clark can sit back and not hear the noise, many around her, friend or foe, don’t necessarily have that luxury. And silence from Clark not only doesn’t help the issue, it could be perceived by some as a silent endorsement of the actions.

Posed with a chance to address the topic again prior to Thursday’s game against the Dream, Clark had a much stronger response to a question from James Boyd of The Athletic.

Given the benefit of hindsight, Clark likely would have gone with the second response to the first question to avoid the situation. Whether the delay was a matter of realizing she needed to word her answer better, or the more direct question leading to a more clear, direct response, Clark’s comments pregame were much more forceful, even if they still likely won’t satisfy those who feel she hasn’t done enough to call out those using her name to fuel racist and homophobic narratives.

It’s also worth remembering that Clark is going through all of this for the first time. She’s a 22-year-old rookie who was thrust into the spotlight for the WNBA. She’s been cast into a role as a spokesperson for issues that existed long before her, and may not yet be comfortable with that status.

College offered a sort of insulation that led to her not being quite at the center of these matters as often, save for perhaps her showdown in the national title game against Angel Reese and LSU.

But Iowa is in her past. Clark is one of the faces of the WNBA and, fair or foul, her words — or, in some cases, her lack of them — are under a new level of scrutiny. It’s the blessing and the curse of living a dream in the public eye.

Clark shouldn’t be responsible for the worst takes about her. But as she seemingly learned on Thursday, silence about them isn’t the correct approach either.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.