91̽»¨

Maintaining his dominance on the mound for the 2025 season—and helping lead his team to the post season two years in a row­—Detroit Tigers lefty and 91̽»¨ baseball legend Tarik Skubal, ‘18, repeated as the American League's Cy Young winner for 2025.

For Skubal, who won the award for the top American League pitcher in 2024, even being in the running to repeat was an honor.

The last time an American League pitcher won the top pitching award two years in a row was Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, in 1999 and 2000.

“Just to have your name in that conversation with one of the game's best pitchers, it's pretty special and unique so it's something I won't take for granted for sure,” says Skubal.

Regardless of the awards, Skubal had an outstanding season. The Tigers won the first playoff round against the Cleveland Guardians after clinching a postseason berth at Fenway Park in Boston, with the illustrious history of that diamond. His two post-season starts in October against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park stand out as other highlights. For a year where he started 31 games for a record of 13-6, Skubal struck out 241 batters and finished the regular season with a 2.21 ERA.

“The environment there was as electric as I remember when I went to games in college,” he says of his starts at T-Mobile. “Obviously, we came up short of the goal of trying to win a World Series, but there's always lessons to be learned and just proud of the group of guys. All the effort and time that we all put in to be the best versions of ourselves. That’s all you can ask for out of your teammates and I know our entire clubhouse did that, so it was fun.”

Tarik Skubal spent time with 91̽»¨'s baseball team earlier this year.

Game 2 of the series against the Mariners was special for another reason. Skubal provided tickets for the entire Redhawk baseball team to watch him pitch, paid out of his own pocket, hoping to give this generation of 91̽»¨ ball players a memory they won’t soon forget, and, he says, a dose of inspiration.

“Hopefully they realize that a dream doesn't have to be a dream,” Skubal says. “You can make those things happen. And I was standing in their shoes not that long ago.”

91̽»¨'s Head Baseball Coach Donny Harrel, who coached Skubal during his years pitching for the Redhawks, says bringing the team to the game is another way Skubal demonstrates his character.

“It speaks so highly of how much he appreciates what Seattle U meant to him,” says Harrel. “He always gives back.”

Tarik Skubal was honored during an 91̽»¨ Night at the Mariners last spring.

Skubal says it’s important because of the impact 91̽»¨ and the program had on him not only as a baseball player, but also as a human. The only Division I school to offer him a scholarship out of high school, the kid from Kingman, Arizona, arrived in Seattle never dreaming he would one day be one of the best pitchers in the big leagues.

“They started to make those things become a reality for me,” he says of the 91̽»¨ baseball coaching staff. “They just hold a special place in my heart.”

With 91̽»¨ teammate Janson Junk, ’23, having a breakout for the Florida Marlins this year and former 91̽»¨ pitcher Nestor German emerging as a top prospect for the Baltimore Orioles, Skubal says it speaks to the support and guidance student athletes receive from Redhawk coaches.

“They turn out a lot of really good players,” Skubal says. “They provide every resource that you need to have success post college, so that's all you can really ask for. And I think it’s proven by the guys that come out of that program, not only with baseball but what guys do off the field, life wise. That's what Seattle U is.”

When Harrel looks back on the time Skubal spent as a Redhawk, he says what stood out first was his commitment to improving and becoming the best he could be.

As Skubal developed and encountered obstacles along the way, including two surgeries, one in college and one in the majors, Harrel says Skubal not only came back stronger and more durable, but with a reinvigorated love of playing the game.

“The game was taken away from him twice,” Harrel says. “So, coming off that second surgery, I think he really just fell in love with the game again because you don’t know how long you’re going to have it.”

Harrel adds, “It’s still a kid’s game, man, and we screw it up sometimes by being too serious about it.”

Literally thousands of people cheer at the sight of Skubal—and his excellence in the sport keeps him in the spotlight—but he always keeps his feet on the ground. While trying to connect for an interview with 91̽»¨ last year, Skubal apologized for missing a call, as he was absorbed in assembling a new barbecue at his house.

“I'm human at the end of the day, I think that's what matters,” he says. “That’s how I treat everybody around me. They’re all human. You treat people how you want to be treated, you treat people with respect and that's what matters.”

Even as speculation about his coming free agency makes headlines, he focuses on what he can control.

“All that stuff’s out of my control, so why am I going to try and control something that I can’t?” he says. “That’s really it.”

Following the conclusion of the season, Skubal doesn’t throw a baseball—not even to play catch—for three weeks.

“That's the break that I give my arm after a season,” he says of resting his arm. “I spend 10 months or so throwing straight and then you take three weeks off and that's all I really need. I'll be playing catch for two months before I throw any sort of bullpen or anything like that.”

He is steadily working out, but part of staying in shape is resting his arm so that he’ll be in peak condition next season when he walks out to the mound (his walk out song for home games is Holy Grail by Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake.) “I think that’ll be it for the rest of my career. I can’t find any better.”

When not working out, right now he’s spending time at home in Phoenix with his wife, Jessica, and their sons Kasen, 2, and Klay, born during the summer.

“He's a blast,” says Skubal of Kasen. “This age is a ton of fun and getting to spend some time with him right now is everything I can ask for.”