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Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal breaks opponent's ankles with curveball in spring training loss
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- Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal breaks opponent's ankles with curveball in spring training loss
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost 13-3 against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium .
Detroit is 4-5 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
Tarik Skubal didn't break his own ankles.
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Rather, Skubal — the reigning American League Cy Young winner who was a standout basketball player in high school — broke the ankles of Bo Bichette with a curveball in the third inning. On the pitch, Bichette swung and missed and fell on top of home plate.
"You remember when stuff like that happens," said Skubal, who recalled doing the same thing to Nick Allen of the Oakland Athletics on July 4, 2023.
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Skubal, a hard-throwing left-hander, completed three scoreless innings with one hit and zero walks with three strikeouts in his second start of spring training, throwing 25 of 37 pitches for strikes. He generated seven whiffs on 18 swings for a 38.9% whiff rate with four changeups, one fastball, one slider and one curveball.
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His fastball averaged 96.8 mph.
"It's not just check mark the box and show up," manager A.J. Hinch said. "Tarik gives an incredible effort every time and will hold himself to the highest level imaginable."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal pitches during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida on Monday, March 3, 2025.
Bichette, a two-time All-Star shortstop with six years of MLB experience, left the game after the ankle-breaking plate appearance in the third inning, but he didn't suffer an injury. He was only scheduled for two trips to the plate in Monday's game.
Skubal, of course, remained on his feet.
He has his ankles intact.
"Oh, I wasn't that type of player," Skubal said, when asked if he broke any ankles as a standout basketball player in high school. "I was fundamental, though. I had good footwork. I was a smart player. I could rebound. That's kind of who I was."
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Starting off
Skubal retired nine of the 10 batters he faced.
In the first inning, Skubal began his scoreless outing by striking out Bichette on three pitches: a 96.6 mph fastball for a called strike, an 88.3 mph changeup for a swinging strike, and a 97.6 mph sinker for a called strike.
Skubal also struck out Davis Schneider and Nathan Lukes in the third inning. With two outs in the third, Ernie Clement hit a line drive to right field for the Blue Jays ' only hit against Skubal, but Skubal ended the inning by getting Bichette to line out.
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"I thought I could've been better," Skubal said. "I think my misses were a little big at times, but there were some misses that were close, so you got to give yourself grace. When I'm rolling-rolling, there's more pitches in the zone, whereas today, I had a little bit bigger misses than I'd like. All in all, it was a good day."
This spring, Skubal has thrown five scoreless innings in two starts.
At the plate
The Tigers were shut down on offense for most of Monday's game.
Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos , the brother-in-law of Tigers shortstop Javier Báez , worked around three hits and two walks (with three strikeouts) to complete 2⅔ scoreless innings, throwing 49 pitches. In the second inning, Báez battled for six pitches but grounded into a double play.
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"I had a good at-bat," Báez said. "He mixed it pretty good."
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In the third inning, Kerry Carpenter — a left-handed hitter who slugs against right-handed pitchers — matched up with a lefty pitcher for the first time in spring training. He received the rare opportunity with the bases loaded and two outs, facing reliever Ryan Yarbrough .
Carpenter struck out swinging.
In the 2024 season, Carpenter hit .305 with a .994 OPS against righties and .107 with a .408 OPS against lefties. He wants more opportunities against lefties in hopes of becoming an everyday player , but he has struggled in limited left-on-left matchups throughout his three-year MLB career.
After grounding into a double play, Báez made the most of his second plate appearance by hitting a double off Yarbrough's first-pitch sinker at the top of the strike zone.
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It was Báez's first hit of spring training in his third game after completing six months of rehab from right hip surgery . He played his first two games as the designated hitter.
"I feel good," Báez said. "I'm ready to go."
On the mound
Right-handed reliever Jason Foley allowed three runs on four hits and zero walks with one strikeout, recording just one out in the fourth inning. Brenan Hanifee , a fellow righty reliever, cleaned up Foley's mess by getting the final two outs in the fourth.
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The Blue Jays did more damage in the fifth inning against right-hander Ty Madden . He surrendered three runs on three hits and two walks with one strikeout across two innings, but unlike Foley, he was able to finish both of his innings.
Foley threw 16 pitches; Madden threw 48 pitches.
Three stars
1. Skubal.
2. Hanifee.
3. Báez.
Next up
Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal breaks opponent's ankles in Tigers loss to Blue Jays
