The best pitcher on the planet, Tarik Skubal, continued his dominance on Sunday afternoon, throwing a “Maddux” for the Detroit Tigers in their 5-0 victory against the Cleveland Guardians. For those unfamiliar with what a Maddux is, it’s a complete-game shutout while throwing under 100 pitches, a trademark of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who did it 13 times in his career. Skubal completed this feat in 94 pitches while striking out 13 batters. The 13 strikeouts are the most thrown in a Maddux, per Underdog MLB. Not only was this the first Maddux of Skubal’s career, but it was also the first time he had thrown a complete game.
Pitchers in MLB history with 80+ K and 3 or fewer walks in a 9-game span:
TARIK SKUBAL
Gerrit Cole
Clayton Kershaw
Cliff Leepic.twitter.com/bawDDbwx55— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) May 25, 2025
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Tarik Skubal Makes History, Throwing 13 K “Maddux” in Tigers Win
Continues to Bring the Heat
The powerful lefty reached 102.6 mph on his final pitch of the game, which is the hardest thrown ball in the Tigers’ Statcast era (2015-present), per Tigers PR.
At 102.6 MPH, this was the fastest pitch by a Tiger in the Statcast Era (2015-present). https://t.co/EBbJCd1DOZ
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) May 25, 2025
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Skubal is looking to become the first AL pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards since Pedro Martinez, who completed this feat back in 1999-2000. While New York Yankees starter Max Fried has a very compelling case to win the award, it is nearly impossible to vote for anyone other than Skubal. Including today’s start, Skubal has 92 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings pitched with a 2.49 ERA. His 92 strikeouts only trail Washington Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore, who has 93 strikeouts. Skubal’s 13.14% strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best in the majors, which can give him the edge over Fried.
Bring Me My Money
Outside of Skubal’s poor first start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he has 90 strikeouts and just four walks in 63 2/3 innings. Those numbers are just absurd and feel like they are out of a video game. In Skubal’s five starts in May, he has 50 strikeouts to two walks in 34 innings pitched. These are mind-boggling numbers, and he is only making $10.15 million through arbitration. I can only imagine Skubal and his agent asking the Tigers to get rid of his last year of arbitration and pay him the money he deserves. At 29 years old, a $250 million contract could be waiting in the wings for Skubal. There is no reason to believe this dominance won’t continue for at least another five seasons, and the Tigers can’t afford to lose him to another team willing to pay him the money he is going to get.
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