The 200-strikeout barrier has remained out of reach for every MLB pitcher this season—except one.
At this stage of the campaign, there’s little debate about who reigns as the league’s premier arm. Paul Skenes, Zack Wheeler, Garrett Crochet, and Christopher Sánchez have all impressed, but none has matched the dominance of Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, the undisputed force on the mound in 2025.
On Tuesday, the left-hander was electric once again, firing seven scoreless frames with 10 strikeouts against Houston. The Astros had no answers for his overpowering fastball and sinker, and his changeup was downright untouchable—producing a 60% whiff rate and landing for strikes 85% of the time.
Despite his brilliance, Skubal didn’t earn the win, as the pitchers’ duel stretched into extra innings. The Tigers eventually prevailed in the 10th without recording a hit, walking off on a bases-loaded free pass drawn by Gleyber Torres.
“It was a great game from start to finish,” Skubal said. He became just the second pitcher this year to log seven scoreless innings with double-digit strikeouts and three or fewer hits allowed without factoring into the decision—the other being Garrett Crochet with Boston.
Tuesday’s outing marked Skubal’s ninth double-digit strikeout performance of the season and pushed him to 200 strikeouts—the first pitcher in 2025 to reach that milestone. With more than a month left, he’s on pace to shatter his career-best 228 strikeouts, set during his Cy Young-winning season a year ago.
Skubal is again building a Cy Young case this year. He leads the Majors in WHIP (0.87), ranks third in ERA (2.32) and opponent average (.197), and owns the best walk rate in baseball at just 1.41 per nine innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a jaw-dropping 8-to-1, well ahead of his closest challenger, Sonny Gray (6.46).
If he maintains this form, it will be nearly impossible for anyone to unseat him as the game’s best pitcher—or deny him back-to-back Cy Young Awards. No American League hurler has accomplished that feat in the 21st century; the last was Pedro Martínez with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000.
Still, beyond personal accolades, Skubal’s focus remains on keeping Detroit atop the American League and pushing deep into October.
