Tigers ace Tarik Skubal to undergo surgery for loose bodies in left elbow

DETROIT — Tarik Skubal talked to the media Sunday afternoon and said all systems were go to make his start against the Boston Red Sox Monday night.

Then he went to do his catch-play and felt his elbow lock up, similar to what happened to him in the seventh inning in Atlanta last week.

Not good.

"I've been dealing with some stuff but I thought it was progressing and getting better," Skubal said after the Tigers announced he was going on the injured list and would need a surgical procedure to clean up loose bodies in his left elbow. "Yesterday I had something that was different than what I'd been dealing with."

That led to conversations with the Tigers' training and medical staffs and with manage AJ Hinch and by late Sunday night, it was determined that surgery would be needed.

"We want to get the surgery as soon as possible so I can be back as soon as possible," he said.

The typical procedure to remove loose bodies, which usually are bone or cartilage fragments, is an arthroscopy. General recovery time is two to three months.

"My understanding is that it is common," Skubal said. "More common than people think. Just things float in the elbow. Probably a lot of throwers have them. Usually it is asymptomatic and doesn't get into spots to hurt the arm. I got one that's giving me some inflammation and problems."

Skubal was still in the process of selecting a surgeon. Right-hander Ty Madden was called up from Triple-A Toledo and was expected to pitch in the bullpen game Monday night.

"The timeline is anybody's guess until he has the surgery," Hinch said. "We're going to need to talk to the doctors and form a plan of rehab before we race to the return. But I was told it is a simple procedure, if you can call any surgical intervention simple."

Losing Skubal, the reigning two-time Cy Young winner, for any length of time is a blow, especially with starting pitchers Justin Verlander, Casey Mize and Troy Melton all on the injured list.

"We are seeing Casey doing more activity and Justin doing more activity and Melton has begun his rehab," Hinch said. "There is a light at the end of this tunnel, even when it feels dark. We will piece this together as we go."

Skubal, who has already had Tommy John and flexor tendon surgeries, said he has been dealing with this issue, albeit infrequently, throughout the season.

"But it was progressing in a positive manner," he said. "I wasn't very concerned about it ... Everything I was doing in the training room and in between starts was progressing in the right way, I thought. But this is something I've been dealing with all season and it's good to get an answer, honestly. It's good for my mentals to figure out what's going on."

Since coming back from the flexor tendon surgery, Skubal has put together one of the most dominant stretches in the modern era, going 41-15 with a 2.41 ERA, 616 strikeouts in 511 innings.

"Tarik loves to pitch and he demands a lot out of himself," Hinch said. "He trains as hard as anybody. Any time he is not available to take the ball, it's tough. Mentally he is in a good place because he knows what he needs to do to go be great.

"But it's hard for him because he wants to post and he knows his importance to this team."

Missing two or three months is also sub-optimal for a player in a contract year. Skubal is expected to be one of the most sought-after free agents on the market this offseason.

"The next part for us will be governing him in getting back to 100%," Hinch said. "He's going to attack this very aggressively. He is going to want to be back soon and complete as much of the season as he can and pitch deep into October. That part hasn't changed at all for him.

"The route is a little more bumpy now and we're going to have to adapt. But there is light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to. I know what Tarik is going to bring back to this team."

Skubal was still processing all the information Monday.

"It sucks," he said. "What I pride myself on is taking the ball every fifth day and giving our team a chance to win. Not being able to do that for whatever the timeline is — I don't have one and I don't think it's fair to guess and create one now — but it sucks. I want to play baseball. I give a lot to this game."

Now that he knows the route, though, he is fully optimistic about coming back strong.

"Yeah, if there is something positive to be taken from it, I'm going to come back and be the same guy," Skubal said. "I'm not too worried about that. I've had two arm surgeries before and I think I came back pretty well from those. I'm just going to trust the work that I'll put in and trust the training staff and all the resources this organization has for me and come back and be the same version of myself.

"But anytime you have to take time off in season, it's tough to find positives in it."

The Tigers presently have 14 players on the injured list, including key contributors Zach McKinstry, Javier Baez, Parker Meadows and Will Vest.

"A team takes the body blow, the upper cut, the punch and it hits you for a minute," Hinch said. "Then you have to get back to competing. We have a game tonight. It was going to be Skubal, now it's not. We have to find a different way to win and then get to tomorrow. We have to take that mentality to overcome this (injury) in particularly but also all the ones before that.

"It's a test. You can't deny it's a big blow. But they aren't going to cancel the season. We've got to go play."

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