On Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium, the Detroit Tigers found themselves in a scoreless battle with the Kansas City Royals. Tarik Skubal, a left-handed pitcher, was in top form, throwing 90 efficient pitches over seven shutout innings without showing signs of fatigue. Nevertheless, manager A.J. Hinch decided to take him out of the game. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0.
Hinch’s decision drew attention after the defeat. However, he stood by the move, pointing to the need to protect Skubal’s long-term health and maintain the overall strength of the pitching staff.
“It’s always easier to just keep a guy out there until he’s out of gas,” Hinch told Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. “But we need all our pitchers healthy. Just because it didn’t work out this time doesn’t mean it wasn’t a thoughtful choice. It’s a long season, and we’ve got to pace ourselves to reach our goals. If you look at our rotation—and rotations across the league—you’ll see how tough it is to get through the whole season without making some tough calls.”
Tigers manager AJ Hinch defends controversial decision to pull Tarik Skubal after 90 pitches vs Royals
The rest, as the saying goes, is history. After Tarik Skubal exited, Beau Brieske came in as his replacement and surrendered an RBI single to Vinnie Pasquantino, scoring Nick Loftin. That lone run proved to be the difference, giving Kansas City the win and preventing Detroit from sweeping their AL Central rivals.
In the aftermath, Tigers fans were left wondering “what if?” about Hinch’s choice to remove Skubal. But decisions like these aren’t made in isolation. Multiple factors influenced Hinch’s call, including the fact that Skubal had just thrown a career-high nine-inning shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on May 25.
While Hinch’s conservative approach might have cost the team a win, protecting the health of his pitchers—especially Skubal—is a top priority. It’s still early in the season, and three members of Detroit’s rotation have already landed on the injured list. That’s not even counting Alex Cobb, whose status with the team remains uncertain.
With World Series hopes in mind, the Tigers can’t afford to lose their reigning AL Cy Young winner. If that means erring on the side of caution and pulling him an inning early during a regular-season game, it’s a trade-off the team is willing to make. A single loss to Kansas City in May won’t define Detroit’s season.
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