CLEARWATER, Fla. — Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal's bread and butter is his four-seam fastball. It sits around 95 mph but reaches the upper-90s, and when he executes up in the strike zone, he seems unstoppable.
But when a pitcher doesn't have his best stuff he must adjust. The ability to do so is often what separates players in the majors from the minors.
On Wednesday, Skubal, 24, didn't command his fastball well.
"It needs to get better," Skubal said Wednesday, as the Tigers lost 2-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies. "It wasn't great last outing, either.