Tigers’ Tarik Skubal getting tests after leaving game with possible injury

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal left Friday night’s game in Miami in the fourth inning with an apparent injury.

Skubal appeared to reach toward his left rib cage area, near his armpit, after throwing a pitch.

He summoned catcher Jake Rogers, and they were quickly joined at the mound by manager A.J. Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades.

Skubal spoke to Rhoades, glove covering his mouth, and then exited the game without attempting to throw any warmup pitches.

“It was just some tightness,” Skubal told reporters in Miami after the game. “Certain things happen during the game where you feel some things, and they come and go with the game. This one didn’t really go away, and that’s what prompted me to call for A.J. and a trainer. I just wasn’t very comfortable letting it go after that. This time of year, with what we’ve got going forward, I didn’t really want to risk doing something that caused me to really miss some time.”

Reliever Rafael Montero entered to replace Skubal, ending his shortest start since Sept. 18, 2021.

If the injury turns out to be minor, the Tigers would happily give Skubal the rest of the regular season off to prepare for the playoffs. But a more serious injury would be devastating to the Tigers’ championship aspirations in 2025.

“I’m obviously going to be optimistic,” Skubal said. “I understand that I took myself out of a game, and that’s the first time I’ve ever done that in my career, so I understand there’s some sort of concern. But at the same time, I’ve seen our trainers, done a lot of physical stuff, and nothing really jumps out at me. So in that aspect, I’m optimistic about it. We’ll get some more information and probably an image on it and see what’s there.”

Skubal entered Friday’s game with a 13-4 record and a 2.10 ERA in 180 innings with 222 strikeouts and just 28 walks. He’s in a strong position to win his second consecutive Cy Young Award.

Skubal was the second Tigers player to leave Friday’s series opener against the Marlins.

Shortstop Javier Baez appeared to foul a ball off his forehead in the second inning. He was removed mid-at-bat and replaced by Trey Sweeney.

Hinch said Baez was considered day-to-day.

“I’ve seen a guy foul a ball off his face before,” Hinch told reporters in Miami. “It was right above his eyebrow. You could see it start to swell as we were standing over him. He was conscious, he was talking, he wanted to stand up right away. We took him out to get looked at. Hopefully, there’s no concussion. It never broke skin or anything like that, which, depending on where it hit him, there’s a lot of damage you can do there. He’s considered day to day right now. I haven’t seen him postgame, but I’ll check on him.”