Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers won the 2024 AL Cy Young Award, and now, in 2025, he’s poised to be one of the top candidates once again for the Cy Young Award.
While Boston Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet and Texas Rangers starters Nate Eovaldi and Jacob DeGrom are top contenders, there’s another pitcher who has a strong case to be the AL Cy Young this season.
That pitcher is Houston Astros starter Hunter Brown. And, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Skubal is set to face Brown in a Tuesday night matchup, which will be an incredible matchup, as the winner could get the upper hand in the Cy Young race.
Astros-Tigers pitching matchups pic.twitter.com/QJJLEwOWjv
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 17, 2025
Skubal and Brown Are the Top AL Cy Young Candidates
The matchup between Skubal of the Tigers and Brown of the Astros is a rare matchup against the top Cy Young candidates in the American League.
Both pitchers have been incredible this season, with both being All-Stars and helping lead their teams to the top seed in their respective divisions. Looking at their statistics this season, the two are close.
Skubal has an 11-3 record in 24 starts with a 2.43 ERA, 5.5 WAR, one shutout, 190 strikeouts, 23 walks, and a 0.873 WHIP in 152.1 innings pitched.
Brown has a 10-5 record in 24 starts with a 2.45 ERA, 5.0 WAR, no shoutouts, 164 strikeouts, 43 walks, and a 1.000 WHIP in 143 innings pitched.
MORE: Tigers top prospects could be impacted by $130 million Roman Anthony Red Sox contract
Skubal’s ERA and WAR lead the American League, while his WHIP is the best in baseball. He walks fewer batters than Brown and, overall, allows significantly fewer baserunners.
But Brown is just 0.02 ERA and only 0.5 WAR away from Skubal. Their ERA+, which measures how good a pitcher is compared to the league average pitcher, is also very close.
Skbual has a 172 ERA+, which leads the AL, while Brown’s ERA+ is at 170. Crochet is the next closest candidate, as he leads the AL in wins, has a 2.43 ERA, 4.8 WAR, and an MLB-best 196 strikeouts and 168 ERA+ in 25 starts.
However, Skubal and Brown are likely the top two candidates in the AL for the Cy Young Award. They could further separate themselves from Crochet with a strong outing in their highly anticipated matchup.
The Tigers and Astros’ Tuesday night matchup on August 19th is one to watch, as the top two AL Cy Young candidates go against each other’s stacked division-leading lineups for a chance to strengthen their Cy Young case.
MORE MLB NEWS:
