What many suspected would be Tarik Skubal’s swan song with the Detroit Tigers turned into one of his roughest nights. The Tigers held a 7-0 lead through six innings, and when Skubal returned to the mound in the seventh, he struck out one batter. He then allowed a run and left two runners on base before heading to the dugout. The Baltimore Orioles trimmed the deficit that inning before rallying to win in extra innings. The collapse left the Tigers’ ace visibly disheartened.

“It’ll never not be special, and it’s something I’ve always appreciated, and hopefully they feel the same way,” he told the reporters, as per 97.1 The Ticket’s X post. “Hopefully they feel like I’ve given everything to the team, to the city, because I truly have.”

Skubal reached the 1,000 strikeout milestone while the Tigers lost 10-9 to the Orioles. He mentioned that at the age of 19, he couldn’t even imagine striking out this many batters in his major league career. But even with such a feat, the starter remained humble. He stepped down from the mound and tipped his cap to the fans, who gave him a standing ovation. 

“Some of these accomplishments just hit different,” he exclaimed. “That one, for whatever reason, just felt more special than every other one.”

This was Tarik Skubal’s last start before the August 3 trade deadline, and a few other players in MLB have generated trade buzz like him this season. He made his MLB debut with the Tigers in 2020 and is currently on a one-year, $32 million deal. With Detroit sitting near the bottom of the AL Central and Skubal having a 2.79 ERA, many expected him to be traded in this window. However, the pitcher himself had a very different take. 

“I just want to live in the moment,” Skubal said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on around me that I have no control over. So I try to be pretty present all the time.”

Lately, the 29-year-old had been linked with multiple teams, like the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, and even the Tampa Bay Rays. But the team that many expected to emerge as the most likely destination is the Los Angeles Dodgers, per Ken Rosenthal.

While that’s that, the 2x AL Cy Young Award winner clearly stated that he wants to finish the season in Detroit with one goal in mind. 

“I think we have a chance to win a World Series,” Skubal revealed in a recent postgame interview. “I’ve said that since spring training. That’s never changed. That belief in this team has never changed throughout the season.”

For now, neither the Tigers nor any other contenders have confirmed any official move regarding him. Even the Detroit manager, A.J. Hinch, chose to focus on the present. He praised the ace, noting that despite not having the sharpest execution, he delivered excellent results. 

He denied commenting on the hypotheticals regarding Tarik Skubal’s trade scenario, but the overall farewell-like atmosphere in Comerica Park told a different story. While the Tigers will try for a comeback and win the series, the fans will eagerly wait to see the final decision on Skubal, and they would definitely want to see the ace lead the team to win the World Series.