Blue Jays won't face Tigers ace Tarik Skubal

If you're not familiar with Skubal he was an all-star in 2024, won the Cy Young for best starting pitcher in the American league and achieved the pitching triple crown for having the most wins, strikeouts and best era in baseball. That has been done by any pitcher since 2011.

Though the Blue Jays will avoid Skubal, they'll still face a formidable trio of pitchers in Jack Flaherty (4.61 ERA), Reese Olson (3.38 ERA) and Jackson Jobe (4.32 ERA), while countering with Bowden Francis on Friday, a still to be determined combination of arms on Saturday and Jose Berrios on Sunday.

Jobe, the third overall pick in the 2021 draft, is one of the rookies making an impact in Detroit, along with catcher Dillon Dingler and shortstop Trey Sweeney. Just 22 years old, Jobe has a fastball that averages 96.3 m.p.h., but he has struggled with command issues, including five walks in his last start, and he has only completed six innings once this season.

He might be throwing to Dingler, who has filled in admirably for starter Jake Rogers while he's been on the injured list with an oblique strain since early April. With a .730 OPS in 32 games, Dingler's holding his own at the plate as is Sweeney (.720 OPS), who came over to Detroit in the deal that sent Flaherty to the Dodgers last summer.

However even without Skubal, the American League Central-leading Tigers are a team to be reckoned with. Since the Blue Jays last saw them in late July of last year, Detroit has the best record in the American League at 66-40, trailing only the NL's Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres over that stretch.