After a remarkable start to the 2025 MLB season, the Detroit Tigers are atop the AL Central and the American League as a whole. With such a strong start, it’s no surprise that multiple Tigers made the All-Star game.
Tigers starter Tarik Skubal officially made his second All-Star team on Sunday afternoon, as the full rosters for the All-Star Game were officially announced. It’s his second, and he could potentially be on his way to start the All-Star game as well.
This season, Skubal has been arguably better than his Cy Young version from a year ago. He has a 2.02 ERA, a 0.81 WHIP, has 148 strikeouts through 116 innings, and an 11-2 record. He leads all of baseball in wins, winning percentage, shutouts, WHIP, walks per nine innings, and strikeout-walk ratio.
He’s more than deserving of an All-Star selection. Skubal’s reaction to his All-Star nod in a very deserving season was shared in a piece from Evan Woodberry for The Detroit Free Press.
“It means a lot,” Skubal said postgame, “To be able to go and share it with more teammates is going to be pretty special.”
A year ago, Skubal was an All-Star for the Tigers, as he was joined by Riley Greene as the team’s All-Star representation. This year, Greene and Skubal are joined by Javier Baez and Gleyber Torres, with all three position players being the starters.
While four All-Stars from one team is a decent amount, for Skubal, it’s not quite what he believes they deserve. Skubal feels as if some of the other Tigers on the roster were deserving of a spot on the All-Star team.
“To be honest,” Skubal explained, “I’m a little disappointed with only the four guys we got. I think there are a lot more deserving guys on our team. We’ve got the best record in the American League. I would like to think that we would be represented more.”
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He continued to explain his feelings of disappointment. “As much as I enjoy that I’m going, I’m pretty disappointed with only the four of us going. I think there are more people in this room who deserve to go there and have fun and enjoy that stage.”
Out of the Tigers’ roster, there are plenty of players who have a case for an All-Star selection. Dillon Dingler has been a revelation at catcher, hitting .272 with eight home runs. Spencer Torkleson has 20 home runs and 56 RBIs, a little over halfway through the year.
Zach McKinstry has been solid as a versatile player, with a .814 OPS, playing a bunch of positions. Kerry Carpenter has 16 home runs and 32 RBIs, while Casey Mize has a 2.63 ERA and a 9-2 record in 15 starts this season. Will Vest has a 2.25 ERA, and Tommy Kahnle has a 2.89 ERA to start the year.
While there are plenty of great players who made the All-Star team over these potential Tigers picks, they all have cases to make the All-Star team. Skubal is disappointed that more Tigers aren’t going to the All-Star game, especially with how good they’ve been this season.
Detroit will still be well-represented, and the Tigers may even see one of those players make the All-Star team as a replacement. But, for now, while Skubal wishes there were more Tigers players on the roster, he will head to Atlanta for the 2025 All-Star game as a strong candidate to be named the starting pitcher for the AL.
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