Will the good fortunes continue for the Detroit Tigers?
That is arguably the biggest question in MLB in July. The Tigers, sitting at 42-50 entering Thursday’s series finale against the Athletics, sit outside of the playoff picture with four games until the MLB All-Star break.
The Tigers hold the biggest potential trade chip – left-handed starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the final year of his contract – entering the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Selling Skubal, along with other expiring contracts such as right-handed starter Casey Mize, could net the Tigers a return that brightens their future, while snuffing their chances of rallying this year.
But the Tigers are complicating the equation with their recent surge. After a 6-22 record in May put them in a gargantuan hole at the bottom of the standings, Detroit is 20-12 from June 1 on, the best record in the American League in that stretch.
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In a watered-down AL, the division and wild-card races are attainable with 70 games remaining.
Skubal, the biggest question mark in baseball, hopes the Tigers front office believes in the recent success.
“Hopefully the decision-makers see that we’re a very good team and it’s not sell at the deadline – it’s add,” Skubal said Tuesday night, according to a report from WXYT-FM’s Will Burchfield, after Skubal gave up one run with nine strikeouts over five innings in a 6-2 win. “I think we’re a really good team, and there’s so many guys in this room that have proven that we can go on a run like we did in ’24.
“I think there’s a lot that goes into it, but our record is not our team. We’re not a 41-50 team, I don’t even think we’re a .500 team. I think we are one of the best teams in the American League, one of the best teams in MLB. At some point results matter and our record is our record, and that matters. Winning matters. But at the same time, I do think we do a lot of things that haven’t shown up in the win-loss column.”
The feeling did not waver at all Wednesday afternoon.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws against Athletics during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
“We just need to win baseball games and make decisions tough on people,” Skubal reiterated before the middle game of the series against the Athletics. “We obviously put ourselves in the spot that we are in, but the faith and belief in this team has never changed and it never will.
“Hopefully, come decision time, the people making those decisions understand that.”
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Skubal missed all of the Tigers’ down stretch in May while he recovered from an elbow surgery. A glut of injuries to both the starting rotation and key bats in the lineup, coupled with plenty of one and two-run losses, put the Tigers at the bottom of the AL.
In the five weeks since, the Tigers (before Wednesday’s win) had the best ERA (3.14) and second-best on-base plus slugging percentage (.779) in MLB.
Skubal believes the team is finally playing to the true potential it had entering the season.
“We all knew this all season that this is the team that we have,” Skubal said. “We are a very good baseball team.”
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) walks off the field after pitching against Athletics during the fifth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
The Tigers remain fourth in the AL Central standings, within 5½ games of the first-place Chicago White Sox, and way down the line in the clustered wild-card rankings.
With 70 games left, a 39-31 record would be required to just finish the season at .500.
In 2024 and 2025, the Tigers were the final AL playoff team with 86 and 87 wins, respectively. To reach those marks again, they would have to close with at least 44 wins in the final 70.
Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris can’t mortgage top prospects to improve a slim chance just to make the playoffs, let alone make a World Series run.
But Harris also can’t afford to let Skubal walk in free agency for nothing – the Tigers would only net a compensatory draft pick after the first round should he sign elsewhere.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, left, talks to team owner Chris Ilitch, center, and president of baseball operations Scott Harris at practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.
The Tigers were not in the ballpark with their long-term offer for Skubal after his 2024 AL Cy Young Award season, and, after he won the award again in 2025, went to an arbitration hearing last winter over his salary for 2026 – and lost.
They are longshots to re-sign Skubal to the massive contract his agent, Scott Boras, is angling for.
Yet, this team’s collective confidence is growing that it can continue to close the playoff gap.
The Tigers know a lot more work needs to be done ahead of the trade deadline and final two-plus months of the season before those possibilities become more realistic.
“I trust our team to come out and keep it all in perspective and continue to play good baseball to win games and see where that takes us,” manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday.
Contact Jared Ramsey at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tarik Skubal wants Tigers to buy at trade deadline – but they’re in tough spot
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