He was surprised when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came over and shook his hand, telling him his day was done.
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“I was at kind of a low pitch count,” Skubal said. “I thought, in the moment, I was going to be able to finish the game, and he’s like ‘Get ready for Game 1.’
“That’s how I was told, and I’m obviously excited and fired up and ready to go.”
Acquired from the Detroit Tigers as the big prize at the midseason trade deadline, Skubal will start Game 1 of the Dodgers’ National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
Roberts was unwilling to announce his Game 2 or 3 starters. But Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in the team’s intrasquad game on Wednesday and seems unlikely to pitch until Game 3 in Atlanta on Tuesday, leaving Game 2 on Sunday night for Blake Snell.
That order would make Skubal available to pitch twice in the best-of-five series without going on short rest – but would limit Yamamoto to one start.
“I think that we have such talented starters. I think you can roll out any of us in any situation and you’re going to be in a really good spot,” said Skubal, calling it “an honor and a privilege” to get the Game 1 assignment.
“I don’t make any of those decisions. I don’t really think about that. They tell me when I’m going, and I’m ready to go that day. That’s kind of how I approach it.”
The decision to go with Skubal is as much about the potential future rounds as it is about the NLDS, Roberts said.
“That’s part of the math because, as the series goes on, if you’re fortunate enough to keep moving on, things start to get more unpredictable,” Roberts said. “So I think that at the outset, if you can kind of line it up in such a way to give guys ample rest, it just, I guess, puts you in a better position for more options down the road. That’s kind of some of the math we had.”
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Skubal made six postseason starts for the Detroit Tigers the past two years, going 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA but losing an elimination game to the Cleveland Guardians in 2024 and getting a no-decision when the Tigers were eliminated in 15 innings against the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of an American League Division Series last year.
Oddly, all six of Skubal’s postseason starts have been as the road team. Saturday will be his first chance to take the mound for the home team in a playoff game.
“Yeah, I’m excited for the opportunity to throw in front of the fans,” he said. “Usually when I walk out onto the field in a playoff game, it’s usually received with a lot of boos. So I’m excited to get some cheers in there for us and to pitch at home. I think it’s going to be a ton of fun in front of this atmosphere.
“Hopefully everyone is drinking a lot of water and staying hydrated. It’s going to be a hot one. I’m excited, though.”
The pressure on Skubal to deliver will be decidedly different with the defending World Series champions and their deep starting rotation compared to the expectations of him as the clear ace of the upstart Tigers. But Skubal said he will feel none of that.
“I think the game of baseball doesn’t change. It doesn’t change in terms of how I’m going to approach it,” he said. “Obviously the stage is a little bit different and the environments are a little bit different, but how I go out and execute and how I prepare and how I game plan and all that stuff is going to be kind of the exact same. That’s kind of what I trust in any moment. As games get more meaningful and impactful on kind of what the season does, I just revert back to kind of what got me in that position.
“It’s a playoff game. I’m going out there to try and win a baseball game. That’s kind of where I’m at mentally.”
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