Bullpen games become the new normal for the sliding Tigers without Tarik Skubal

Bullpen games become the new normal for the sliding Tigers without Tarik Skubal originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Detroit Tigers had some huge goals for the 2026 season. After making the ALDS last season, they were looking to make the postseason again and go a bit farther.

And at the start of the season, all signs were pointing to doing just that. Tarik Skubal was dealing on the mound, and the offense was doing its job.

However, they received some terrible news at the beginning of the month. Skubal would have to miss some time as he needed to undergo surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow.

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Bullpen games become the new normal for the sliding Tigers without Tarik Skubal

Now, the Tigers likely won't be without Skubal for the rest of the season. But they will miss him for a good chunk of the season as he is expected to miss 2-3 months if everything goes well.

Without their ace, the club has looked defeated. They are coming off a week where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox and lost a series to the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. With that, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter takes them from No. 12 to No. 22 in his latest power rankings piece.

"The Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Royals on Sunday night, using six different pitchers in a classic A.J. Hinch bullpen game. After ace Tarik Skubal underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow on Wednesday, sidelineing him for the foreseeable future, more nine innings by committee games are likely coming."

Reuter suggests that more bullpen games are in Detroit's future after using an opener and then five more arms after that on Sunday. This obviously isn't ideal, and makes Hinch's job a lot harder, but gives them a few more options in how to attack teams.