Tigers' Tarik Skubal wins second straight American League Cy Young Award

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Nov 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DETROIT — Tarik Skubal continues to entrench himself in the pantheon of great Detroit Tigers pitchers.

On Wednesday, by a vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Skubal won his second straight American League Cy Young Award.

He is the first American League pitcher to win the award in consecutive years since Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez won it in 1999 and 2000. And he joins Denny McLain (1968, 1969) as the only Tigers pitcher to win it more than once.

Skubal, a unanimous choice for the award in 2024, got 26 of 30 first place votes, beating out Red Sox Garrett Crochet (four first place votes, 26 second place votes) and Astros' Hunter Brown (Wayne State).

The Tigers were 21-10 in Skubal’s 31 regular-season starts this past season. His 6.5 WAR and 2.21 ERA led the American League. Per Baseball Reference, Skubal led in 12 different statistical categories, including an MLB-low 0.891 WHIP.

His 195 1/3 innings and 241 strikeouts were career highs. He had a 32.2% strikeout rate and a 4.4% walk rate. His 7.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio was tops in the game. He allowed zero earned runs in 12 of his 31 starts, and two runs or less in 21 of them.

Skubal, who turns 29 on Nov. 20, is among McLain, Willie Hernandez (1984), Justin Verlander (2011) and Max Scherzer (2013) in the Tigers’ Cy Young club.

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