Cam Schlittler and Tarik Skubal expressed mutual admiration for each other’s pitching prowess on Monday.
A day later, New York’s Schlittler and Detroit’s Skubal will put admiration aside and focus on opposing hitters when the Yankees host the Tigers in the middle contest of a three-game series.
The Tigers are attempting to clinch the series after scoring five unearned runs in the first four innings of Monday’s 7-3 win.
Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson had an RBI single and is hitting .303 in his past 10 games, and rookie Kevin McGonigle had a two-run single on Monday and is batting .309 in his past 15 games.
New York has allowed 14 unearned runs during its past five games after Jose Caballero and Cody Bellinger made errors. The Yankees have lost a season-high-tying five games in a row and eight of 10 overall.
Schlittler (8-4, 1.62 ERA) will start on Tuesday after the Yankees were held to three hits for the fourth straight game. The right-hander is the early favorite to win the American League Cy Young after Skubal won the award in the previous two seasons.
A seventh-round pick by the Yankees in 2022, Schlittler heads into his 32nd career start leading the Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen (2.45) by a wide margin in the AL ERA race.
Schlittler also is second in the AL with 118 strikeouts, 10 behind Toronto’s Dylan Cease, and Schlittler’s .197 opponents’ batting average is second in the AL behind Rasmussen (.191).
Schlittler, 25, has allowed two earned runs or less in 14 of his 17 starts in 2026 after doing so in 10 of 14 outings last season. He allowed one run on five hits in six innings in a 9-3 win over Detroit last season, his lone career appearance against the club.
“He’s the best pitcher in the American League right now,” said Skubal, 29. “To do it at his age, I don’t know how old he is, but he’s young in terms of service in this game and seeing his stuff, it’s pretty dynamic and electric. He throws a lot of strikes. A lot of the high velocity stuff, the three fastballs, the fastball, cutter, sinker, goes right after guys, has a good curveball and has performed in big moments, too. I think he’s a pretty impressive player at this stage of his career.”
Skubal (3-4, 3.32 ERA) will make his fourth start since returning from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow to remove loose bodies. The left-hander is 0-2 with a 4.96 ERA in three starts since returning and will face the Yankees for the second straight time.
Skubal allowed four runs on four hits in six innings in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss and struggled to retire Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a pair of solo homers and is 7-for-13 with four homers and five RBIs off Skubal.
Last season, Skubal led the AL in ERA (2.21) for the second straight season. The ninth-round pick also was second in the AL with 241 strikeouts and held hitters to a .200 average, third in the AL behind Carlos Rodon and Jacob deGrom.
“I’d say initially you look at it like that,” Schlittler said of opposing Skubal. “I trust the guys behind me that that’s going to be a fun one. Realistically, it’s me versus their lineup, but at the same time you got to realize for the most part it might be a close game, so I just got to have a little bit of an extra edge to that and just be aware that it’s probably at least from last year the best pitcher in the game.”
Skubal is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
